Invictus
by James D. Wolfe
Summary: The Namikaze creed was simple, Invictis, Unconquerable. Can Naruto uphold his father's legacy? NaruHaku. FemHaku. KitsuneNaruto.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Prologue**

After Izanagi returned from Yomi, he acted in a cleansing rite, in which he begot Amaterasu from his left eye, Tsukuyomi from his right eye, and Susanoo from his nose. However, with these new deities there was to be an equal power, and so rose the Bijuu.

**Battlefield just outside Konoha**

The ninja of Konohagakure no Sato raged with all their might against the fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune, the strongest of the Bijuu. The surrounding area had been levelled of all tree's, lifeless bodies of comrades fallen everywhere. A majority of the bodies weren't even whole; some had been torn by the great fox's gleaming claws, some had been stomped on and crushed, and the most gruesome sight being the half mangled bodies the Kyuubi decided to dine upon.

"We need to hold it until Yondaime-sama arrives," cried a wounded ANBU before released another spay of flames at the beast.

"…Don't let it get to Konoha! If that happens we are doomed," yelled another shinobi, this time a Jounin who was panting in an attempt to catch his breath.

Within minutes, a great toad known as Gamabunta appeared flying overhead, its blade gleaming in the moonlight before digging into the Kyuubi. "Oi gaki! Do it now!"

A blonde shinobi standing atop the great toad nodded solemnly before raising his hands from his sides and throwing them into a series of handseals. The Kyuubi made a noise, somewhat reminiscent of a chuckle before raising its claw and cutting across Gamabunta's left eye.

The shinobi finished his handseals before mumbling something, barely audible to the toad he was riding on, "I, the Yondaime Hokage, now seal you away!"

It happened in a matter of seconds. A bright flash of light encompassed the entire battlefield, and when it was gone, the Kyuubi was nowhere to be seen, and the Yondaime lay on the brink of death.

**(3 weeks later)**

"Heheh, die demon," the snickering chuunin slapped a paper seal onto the back of a 3 week old, blonde baby's neck. The seal glowed red before it started to shift around, the kanji moving and changing shape. The chuunin watched in horrid fascination as the explosive seal that should have detonated by now warped and imploded, not doing any damage to the baby.

"Naruto-kun!"

The chuunin swore and disappeared in a puff of smoke. In seconds, three figures appeared in the room in time to see the smoke fade away. The first of the figures snarled and picked up the young baby. "Search the vicinity. I want whoever was in here found and given to Ibiki."

The other two shadowy figures nodded and disappeared, similar to what the chuunin had done, except without leaving the smoke. The first person walked over to the window where the moonlight hit his face, revealing none other than the elderly Sandaime Hokage. He rocked the crying baby in his arms, singing a lullaby in a hushed tone. He didn't notice the glow of red chakra on the back of the baby's neck fade into his skin.

**(Time Skip – 3 Years)**

A 3 year old Naruto grinned toothily at the elderly Hokage, grabbing at his robes. "Neh, neh! Sarutobi-jiji, can we get ramen?"

Sarutobi smiled warmly and picked the boy up in his arms. "My, you are getting big Naruto-kun. Maybe you have been eating too much ramen?"

The young Naruto shook his head and pouted, "Ramen is good. Vegetables are blugh!"

The Hokage laughed and shunshin'ed out of his office, headed towards Ichiraku Ramen. Sooner or later, the old man knew he was going to have to make Naruto live somewhere other than the Sarutobi estate. It was just so difficult when the majority of the village wanted the young boy dead.

"Ok Naruto, miso again?"

The little blonde bopped his head up and down, causing the old man to chuckle.

**(Meanwhile)**

"The moment that old fool takes his eyes off the demon brat you are to end its existence. Do you understand these orders?"

"Hai, Danzo-sama."

The one armed, half blind man grinned with malice and turned away from the shinobi in front of him. That brat would die, and with it, Sarutobi's position as Hokage.

**Sarutobi Estate**

Naruto sat in his room, reading a scroll on chakra. He surprised everyone he knew when he started reading the Sarutobi clan's scrolls, and even understanding them. It just wasn't normal for a 3 year old.

Sarutobi had left earlier to finish off his paperwork, leaving Naruto at the estate. Little did he know that his precious Naruto was in grave danger.

The ROOT member stood poised in the shadows of the corner of the room Naruto was currently occupying. Raising the poisoned kunai from his pouch, the ROOT dashed across the room with speed rivalling the fastest people in Konoha. The kunai sailed through the air, and slashed through the boy.

'_Wait a minute… through? Shit! Bunshin!'_

The ROOT member turned his head slowly, only to find the Hokage standing in the doorway, the demon spawn in his arms. In seconds, the ROOT member was bound, gagged and sent to Ibiki. The screams would be remembered for many nights to come.

**Hokage's Office**

"Oh Naruto… what am I going to do with you?"

"You could always send him with me…"

Sarutobi spun in his chair and grinned when he saw who was standing in the windowsill. The man smiled at him and waved, "Yo, Sarutobi-jiji."

"Takezo Kenji. It's been a while since I've seen you… how is the farm going?" Sarutobi asked, all the while keeping a stray eye on Naruto who was sitting in a corner, still reading his scroll.

Kenji's grin got even wider, "I finally got that irrigation system working. I heard that Minato left behind some offspring. Was told it died though. That kid looks a _lot _like that blonde dumbass."

Sarutobi laughed, attracting the attention of his blonde charge. "Naruto, come here. I want you to meet someone."

The young boy nodded and plopped his scroll on the seat beside him before jumping off his own, as his feet didn't quite touch the ground yet. He walked over to Kenji, who was still sitting in the windowsill. "Who are you?"

Kenji smiled and bopped Naruto on the head lightly with his heel, "I'm Takezo Kenji brat, your new sensei."

Naruto stared at Kenji with a confused look in his eyes before turning around to the Hokage. The elderly man ruffled Naruto's hair and nodded. "Don't worry Naruto-kun, Kenji-kun was on a Genin team with the Yondaime. He's a good guy."

Naruto nodded once and turned back around to face Kenji before kicking him in the shin. "Don't call me a brat. For your information I'm three and a half."

Kenji was wide-eyed. This kid was three and a half years old and was already talking as fluently as a teenager. _'Oh… the possibilities…'_

Kenji grinned at Naruto before turning back to the Hokage. "Oi, I want to take him to my farm… it will give him a chance to get used to travelling, and I can teach him a heck of a lot easier out there."

Sarutobi frowned. He didn't expect Kenji to take Naruto outside the village. He hoped that Kenji would move back to Konoha for a while to look after Naruto. He let out a sigh and nodded to Kenji, who grinned in reply.

Naruto looked at the elderly Hokage again. "Neh, Sarutobi-jiji. Am I leaving the village?"

Sarutobi nodded and reached into a desk drawer. He withdrew a file and handed it to Kenji before turning back to Naruto. "I'm afraid so Naruto-kun. You won't be returning to Konoha until your old enough to take the Genin exams."

Naruto nodded, unshed tears blurring his vision. Sarutobi swept the boy into a hug and mumbled something in the young boy's ear. Naruto grinned and nodded before turning his head to face Kenji, "When are we leaving, Kenji-sensei?"

Kenji smirked, "As soon as Sarutobi-jiji lets go of you."


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Farm**

Naruto raised a hand to shield his eyes from the harsh sun. He had been working since dawn and still hadn't finished his chores. He had long since given up hope completing his chores before lunch, so he slowed his pace. The 7 year old Uzumaki grinned when he heard someone fast approaching.

He swung the hoe he was carrying up and blocked the incoming straw broom handle. The blonde grinned as he rolled out from under the wooden stick and swung the hoe at his attacker's legs. "Is lunch ready, Miyamoto?"

Takezo Miyamoto, Kenji's son. He was the same age as Naruto and the pair had become as close as any brothers during Naruto's stay at the farm. The black haired boy grinned and swung his broom at Naruto. "Not quite. Kaa-chan is just finishing up the chicken."

Naruto ducked under the broom and nodded before lunging forward with the hoe. Miyamoto responded in kind and lunged as well with his broom. The two wooden 'weapons' were about to reach their targets when both were stopped by a rather amused Kenji.

Naruto swung the hoe behind his back and bowed to the man while Miyamoto laughed and mimicked the action. Kenji grinned and patted both of them on the head, "After lunch we will start with your training."

Naruto started jumping around. After 3 and a half years of living with the Takezo family, he was finally going to receive training to become a shinobi. Because of his already extensive knowledge of chakra and his photographic memory, Naruto was already a walking encyclopedia for general ninja info.

The two boys raced each other to the house, with Naruto proving to be just a bit faster than Miyamoto. Kenji laughed and walked back at a leisurely pace, taking in the amount of work his sons had done. Although Naruto didn't know it yet, Kenji had adopted him the day he turned 4.

* * *

"Kaa-chan," Miyamoto cried as he dived through the entrance to the kitchen, "Save me from Naruto!"

Naruto dived in after him, a black Oni mask covering his face. Seeing Miyamoto hiding behind his mother Naruto grinned and pushed the mask onto the side of his head, "Hey Haruhi-kaa-chan."

Haruhi smiled gently and leant down so she was face to face with the boys. "You two go wash up, lunch will be on the table in a few moments."

Both boys nodded and ran off, laughing with the mirth that came naturally to children. She sighed and stood up again, dusting the invisible filth from her apron before busing herself with taking the large chicken to the dining table.

Kenji grinned as he walked in and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist. "Smells good."

Haruhi smiled and nodded before planting a kiss on Kenji's cheek and heading back to the kitchen. Kenji smiled and sat at the table, taking a notepad from his hidden pocket. "Ok… well, I think they can start training with theory first…"

* * *

Naruto sat on a bundle of hay in the barn with Miyamoto to his left, both paying rapt attention to Kenji, who was giving a lecture.

"Ok, first thing you both need to know is this, never become dependent on chakra! I speak from personal experience when I say that there will be situations in your life as a Shinobi that you can't or shouldn't use chakra.

Ok, with that said, do either of you know the Ninja Jūhakkei?" Receiving two shakes of the head, Kenji sighed. "Ok, the Ninja Jūhakkei is a set of skills that are vital to a Shinobi. The first of which is Spiritual Refinement, or Seishin-teki kyōyō. This consists of your chakra manipulation and control for jutsu and what not. Next comes Taijutsu, the art of Hand to Hand combat. Then Hensojutsu, which is disguise and impersonation. Now, this is a really important one, Shinobi-iri, which are your stealth methods. Next up is Sui-ren, or water training, this isn't as important as it was back in the days of the first ninja but should still be taught. Next is Boryaku, which are tactics. Ok, then there are Choho, espionage, Intonjutsu, escape methods and concealment, and finally Tenmon, which is Geographical knowledge or Meteorology."

Naruto absorbed everything the man said like a sponge, and found a sudden craving for more knowledge. Miyamoto on the other hand, found an urge to start practicing the physical aspects of being a Shinobi.

"As of today, you will both be following a strict training regimen," Kenji said as he took a piece of paper from his pocket and nailed it into the main support beam of the barn.

_Takezo Training Regimen_

_Monday – Saturday_

_5:00AM – Wake up, stretches._

_6:00AM – Breakfast_

_6:30AM – Chores (Will be assigned by Haruhi or Kenji)_

_9:00AM – Theory of Ninja Jūhakkei_

_11:30AM – Lunch  
12:00 – Taijutsu Training  
2:00PM – Practical Aspects of Ninja Jūhakkei  
4:30PM – Ninjutsu/Genjutsu Training_

_6:00PM – Dinner  
7:00PM – Meditation  
8:30PM – Free Time  
9:00PM – Bed_

And so began the training of Uzumaki Naruto, future ninja extraordinaire.

**(Time Skip – 2 Years)**

Naruto let out a sigh as he stretched out his back, smiling when a loud 'pop' rang through the barn. He had been versing Kenji in a game of shogi for the past few hours and ended up with Naruto winning by the skin of his teeth.

"Naruto-kun, you really need to decide on a weapon soon. You know Miyamoto picked his a few days ago, and will be going away for a few months with a friend of mine to receive training in the basics. We can't waste much more time."

Naruto sighed, "I know that, and I know what weapon I want. I guess I was just… stalling. Receiving weapons training means the time is coming closer to go back to Konoha, and I like it here. I can still remember the times from when I was two, which I know isn't normal, and the people there weren't exactly nice to me."

Kenji had to resist the urge to snort. Not exactly nice was an understatement. Before Kenji had taken him, the boy had been subject to over 100 failed assassination attempts, most of which were orchestrated by the council going behind Sarutobi's back. Allowing a small smile to cross his features, Kenji bent his knees and rested his hands on Naruto's shoulders.

"You are my son, and the son of my best friend. Konoha runs in your blood, no matter what you do. I am aware of the attitude that was held towards you before you came with me, but do not give them a reason to make it worse. Earn their respect through your skill, and eventually they will recognize you are Uzumaki-Namikaze-Takezo Naruto. Not as the Jinchurikee no Kyuubi."

Naruto nodded once, the saddened look in his eyes turning into fierce resolve. He would make his father, both his fathers, proud of him. "I wish to train in the use of a sword."

Kenji grinned and stood tall, ruffling Naruto's hair on the way. Spinning on his heel, he started walking out of the barn and motioned for Naruto to follow him.

* * *

In a room lit with only a few candles, a redwood stand sat in the center. Atop it was one of the most beautiful swords that Naruto had ever laid his eyes on. The sheath along was breathtaking and almost looked alive. Seemingly random splotches of jade, crimson and yellow were woven together in a way that resembled a bird in flight. When the sheath moved, the pattern looked like the bird was actually moving up and down it.

The tsuba was golden in colour, and if Naruto was right it was solid gold. It was fashioned in the shape of a Heron, with the wings coming up to meet the head. The hilt was fit with a forest green coloured wrapping and had ruby diamonds running down each side of it.

"This is the sword of my fathers, Naruto. Overtime it has been used by the strongest warrior in our clan, although only it was only ever wielded by a male. My time has passed, and since Miyamoto has not chosen to follow the path of the sword, its weight lies with you now."

Naruto stared in awe; the flames flickering in the room seem to give more life to the weapon. He reached out and ran his hand along the sheath, "Does it have a name?"

"Jato"


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Return**

"Ding dong, the witch is dead!"

"Which old witch?"

"The wicked witch!" a pair of teens sang as they marched down a dirt path.

"Would you pair shut it already!?" a voice yelled from behind them. The teens let out a laugh and began to whistle the tune.

The first teenager was one Uzumaki (Namikaze-Takezo) Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and adopted son of Takezo Kenji. He was roughly 5'5 and had sun bleached blond, spiky hair, which was tied into a rat's tail at the base of his neck. He wore black, full length pants that hung loosely around his ankles, and a black v-neck tank top, with a fishnet top underneath. Standard ninja sandals were on his feet and around his waist was an orange coloured sash which held his family sword.

Said sword was the green sheathed Jato, which clashed horribly with the rest of his black wardrobe. One he got into Konoha, he was going to have to go shopping.

Stored in the various pockets of his were kunai, shuriken, exploding notes, a breathing apparatus for filtering toxins from the air and breathing underwater, several storage scrolls and a belt that had been customized to hold vials of different poisons and antidotes.

The second teen was Takezo Miyamoto, son of Takezo Kenji. He was around 5'3 and had dirty brown hair that fell over his eyes. He wore a pair of _waraji _over his _tabi. _He wore a pair of plain white pants that were loose around his legs, and a white, open elbow length jacket that revealed his muscular chest.

Strapped across his back was a long, metallic Bo staff. Carvings of a lightning bolt were at the top and bottom of the staff.

The pair where currently headed to Konoha to join their ninja program, since they had been training for it since they were 7 years old. The final one was none other than Takezo Kenji, who had been offered the position of Hokage after the Yondaime had died, but declined.

"The gate is up ahead you two, get your papers out."

Sure enough, the giant gates of Konohagakure no Sato loomed over them, its shadow reaching them before they were within 100 feet of the thing. Naruto sighed while Miyamoto grinned and charged ahead, shouting for his blonde brother to hurry up. Glancing back at Kenji long enough to see the older man's smile, Naruto disappeared from view, only to appear next to Miyamoto a second later.

"Why are you so upbeat about this?" Naruto questioned as he handed his papers to the gate guard.

Miyamoto countered, "Why are you so down about it?"

"… Touché."

Kenji walked up behind the pair and nodded at the pair of chuunin guards, who immediately snapped to a salute when they saw the legendary sword wielding ninja.

"Come on you pair, Sarutobi-jiji wants to see us before I drop you two off at the apartment he arranged."

Naruto nodded while Miyamoto grinned widely. At that moment, a weird feeling passed over Naruto as if that he would have been the one grinning like a fool if he had staying in Konoha. Shuddering at the thought, he smiled a little and followed his father and brother.

**Hokage's Office**

"Hey old man!"

Sarutobi looked up to see Kenji with his two sons walk through the door. The sight of Naruto brought a smile to his face; he hadn't seen the boy since he was 3 years old.

"Hello, Kenji. You must be Miyamoto, correct?" seeing the brown haired boy nod, he turned to Naruto, "I'm not sure if you remember me, Naruto-"

"Of course I do," Naruto cut in, "Sarutobi-jiji."

To say Sarutobi was shocked was an understatement; most children could barely remember their memories before the age of 5. The blonde smiled and hugged the old man, who had to fight the tears as they came to his eyes. He hugged him back as if he were his own grandchild before letting go and taking a good look at him. When his eyes fell on the sword at Naruto's waist, he chuckled.

"My, my, Kenji-kun. You gave him the _Jato_?"

Kenji chuckled and scratched behind his ear looking in any direction except the Hokage. What he hadn't told Naruto was that his own father, Minato, had helped Kenji update the sword with seals of his own design, making it near unbreakable and able to conduct chakra. Sure, the kid knew of its abilities, but he didn't know their origin. The sword was a legacy of both Naruto's fathers.

The Sandaime sat back down behind his desk, leaning forward and rested his chin on interlaced fingers, "So, tell me about your training."

* * *

Over the next two hours, Kenji and Naruto related their story to the Sandaime, leaving out some minor things like the boys being trained by A-Class missing nin's that Kenji knew owed favours to him. By the end of the story, Sarutobi had a rough idea of what the two future Genin were well versed in, and could easily slip them into teams. It was then that Miyamoto spoke up.

"Err, Hokage-sama, Otou-san, there's this thing. Anou… I don't really want to be a shinobi…"

Out of the reactions, Sarutobi's was easily the most subtle with just his eyebrows rising in confusion. Naruto was gaping at his brother, his finger pointed at him with his stance that seemed to scream 'traitor!' while his father had a similar facial expression to Naruto's.

Noticing the reactions, Miyamoto elaborated further, "When I was training with a monk, he told me I had great potential to become one of the warrior monks of his monastery. I wanted to tell you before, but seeing both yours and Naruto's face, Tou-san, I just couldn't."

Kenji sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "You should have told me, Miyamoto. But, I already knew of your skills with the monks, seeing as I got updates monthly while you were gone," a smile crossed his face as he continued, "I wish you luck with the brothers, they are known to be ruthless in their training."

Sarutobi nodded, he recognized the boy was trained by some form of warrior monks from his stance and weapon. Naruto plopped back down into his chair, "Nii-san… I wish you the best of luck, really I do, but you are such a jackass."

Kenji slapped the back of Naruto's head, despite knowing that the blonde boy got the language from himself. Miyamoto chuckled and hugged his brother before bowing to the Hokage.

"With your leave, Hokage-sama, Otou-san, I need to inform Brother Mhenlo I will be joining him."

Both men nodded and Miyamoto disappeared out the door, leaving Naruto to wallow. Now he had no one he knew within the teams that made up the Genin. Feeling a distortion in the air ahead of him, he looked up in time to catch a scroll that the Hokage had thrown at him. Looking down, he noticed the seal of the Namikaze clan holding it together. _Blood Seal?_

"Within that scroll holds the details to the Namikaze clan estate, which is where you will be staying. Once you become a Chuunin, you will be recognized as the head of the Namikaze clan, and can inherit the fortune that belongs to the name. Until then, you only have a small trust fund you can access as the heir to clan. Also, there are a few more scrolls sealed inside that one according to what Minato told me before he died."

Naruto nodded and bit his thumb, quickly swiping the fresh blood across the clan seal. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Naruto unravelled the scroll. Sure enough, there was a map that marked out the Namikaze Estate, which was actually located in a forest close to the edge of the south side of the village, and quite small compared to the other clan houses.

Beside the map there were four seals marked _Namikaze, Uzumaki, Naruto _and _Takezo._ Glancing across to Kenji, he showed him the seal with his clan name on it and Kenji was just as shocked as Naruto. He then noticed a seal that hidden in the trees surrounding the Namikaze estate and quickly released it, causing a set of keys to appear.

"So I guess I'm gonna head out…" Naruto started.

"Hai, Naruto-kun, make sure to take this letter to the academy," Sarutobi handed over said letter, "and try to get to know people there. The Genin exam will begin tomorrow, so I will meet you there to inform the instructors that you are to take the exam as well."

Nodding, Naruto stood up and bowed to the Hokage and smiled to the pair of older men before disappearing with a slight flicker. The Hokage's eyebrows shot up again, Smokeless Shunshin wasn't easy, and with the lack of distortion in the air where Naruto had just left, he would guess that Naruto was proficient with the skill, just as his father was.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Academy**

Iruka's day so far had been pretty interesting.

It was the last day of school before the Genin exams, and his senior class was so on edge it wasn't even funny. Even the normally kind and shy Hyuuga Hinata seemed to be ready to go off at the first person that got near her. He attempted to get their attention.

"Class…"

Nothing.

"Class!"

Still nothing. Sighing, he started to observe the class. First there were two girls, sitting and staring dreamily at Sasuke. Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, disgraces to the kunoichi world who worried more about their looks than their skills. Admittedly, Ino still had something to go on with her family techniques, but Sakura came from a civilian family and had no physical prowess whatsoever and her chakra reserves were embarrassingly low.

Sitting a desk behind them were Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji, the heirs to their respective clans. Shikamaru had absolutely abysmal grades, while Chouji's weren't much better, but after meeting with their father's about it, they didn't seem too worried. The pair of them where almost carbon copies of their folks, which slightly crept out Iruka.

Shifting his gaze, he saw Inuzuka Kiba and the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. Both of them were ready to be Genin, but had some serious personality problems that needed to get sorted out.

Kiba was loud, brash, ignorant and full of himself. He acted purely on instincts and often got himself into trouble because of them.

Hinata, while proficient in her clans Taijutsu, the Gentle Fist, and her kekkai genkai **Byakugan**, she was extremely shy and soft spoken.

Off in a dark corner was Aburame Shino, heir to the Aburame clan. He was one of the few in the class that could pass as a true shinobi. Silent, skilled in strategy and logic and hid his skills from most of the class. His skills were rivalled only by those of Uchiha Sasuke's.

Said Uchiha had practically declared himself royalty and expected everything to be handed to him. Admittedly, he was a superb ninja, but his high and mighty attitude would someday get him into serious trouble.

When Iruka realized that still no one was paying attention, he sucked in a large breath ready to use his big-head jutsu developed just for situations like this when the door opened, and in walked a boy.

The first thing he noticed was the sword at his side and the way he carried himself, similar to how a jounin walked, silently and taking in their surroundings without people noticing. The boy walked up and handed him a slip of paper.

"A letter from the Hokage, explaining my joining this class," the boy stated. Iruka nodded silently, watching the boy from the corner of his eye as he read the message. Apparently Naruto was only there to get to know how the future Genin worked, as he would be taking the exam tomorrow.

"Ok Naruto, why don't you take the seat next to Sasuke," he said, pointing over to where the Uchiha was.

"… You mean next to the brooding emo-prince with the duck ass hairdo?" Naruto questioned in deadpan.

Almost immediately, the female population of the class minus Hinata started screaming for his blood. Kiba was rolling on the floor laughing while Shikamaru and Chouji were chuckling. Shino's lips quirked up into a smile, showing his amusement.

"ENOUGH!" Iruka screamed, his big-head jutsu kicking into overdrive. He turned back to Naruto, "Fine, please go sit with Shino over there. But first, why don't you introduce yourself to the class."

Naruto nodded and turned to face the class with a smile, "Uzumaki-Takezo Naruto at your service." He finished with a bow, and when he looked up he saw the gaping mouths of most of the class, as well as Iruka. Cocking his head to the side in confusion, he looked at Iruka for an explanation.

"Y-you mean… Takezo as in, the sword wielding clan Takezo? As in Takezo Kenji, Godaime hopeful after Yondaime? As in the Yondaime's teammate and second in command, Takezo?"

Naruto nodded and smiled, "Kenji is my otou-san!"

Iruka promptly fainted.

Naruto chuckled before he slapped him across the face, waking up the Chuunin. Quietly slipping up the stairs, he sat next to Shino and held out his hand, "Hi."

Shino eyed his hand for a second before shaking it, "Aburame Shino."

Naruto nodded and smiled, "Aburame clan, huh? I like you guys, silent, stealthy, known for finishing missions quickly and efficiently, all in all, picture perfect shinobi."

Shino nodded slowly, surprised that someone thought so highly of his clan. It was rare that people praised his clan as highly as the Hyuuga or Uchiha.

"You use Kikai to aid you in battle right?" Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You know a lot about my clan, Naruto-san," Shino stated.

"Meh. Knowing your enemy and battling them are two totally different things. If the body isn't strong enough to counter what the mind considers a threat, you're dead."

Shino nodded, "Wise statement." Shino was fairly impressed. It was rare to meet a child so well versed in the shinobi ways.

"Right-o class, time for some sparring. Head out to the training field," Iruka called from the front of the classroom. There was a mad rush for the door, people itching to get out of the stuffy classroom for a while. Naruto followed at a more subdued pace.

* * *

"Alright, time for some practice sparring. You can use Taijutsu and Kenjutsu, and only those two!" Iruka said, staring sternly at a few of the class, "Now apart from that, it is an all out match except for serious injury and death."

"Now, lets have Shino and Ino up first." The match was shamefully quick, with Shino delivering a simple backhand to Ino's temple, knocking her out.

It continued on in a similar fashion, except some fights were actually decent to watch. The fan-girls were beaten pathetically easy, which caused Iruka to sigh. "Okay next, how about Naruto and Sasuke?"

Naruto simply nodded and walked out into the field, while Sasuke smirked. _I am gonna put this new kid in his place!_

Seeing his opponent's expressions, Naruto let out a sigh as he took the _Jato _from its place at his waist and sealed it into a tattoo on his left forearm. Iruka watched in amazement, even he couldn't seal something like that into his own skin. He continued to study Naruto as he took out a scroll and unsealed an oak bokken, which was well worn.

Naruto looked over to the academy instructor, "Iruka-san, is this alright? Or do I have to use an academy bokken?"

Iruka just nodded, "Yours is fine."

The blonde nodded and shifted his stance, holding the bokken like a sheathed sword at his side.

"Whenever your ready, Uchiha-san," Naruto droned. His father had told him to not show his true personality when around people other than his teammates and people he trusted.

Sasuke immediately rushed Naruto. He threw a right hook at Naruto's head. Naruto easily sidestepped and thwacked Sasuke's thighs. His legs buckled as a numbing sensation passed through them. Snarling, Sasuke threw a roundhouse kick at Naruto's ribs, which Naruto avoided again. The blonde used the opening Sasuke left from the kick and quickly struck at Sasuke's other leg. The Uchiha's knee's buckled completely this time, and Sasuke fell to the ground with a loud thump.

Sasuke scrambled up to see Naruto walking out of the arena, "Don't turn you back on me, dobe!" He quickly threw his hands through a set of seals he had memorized years ago.

"**Katon: Great Fireball!"**

A large fireball flew towards Naruto, as he turned to see what had happened. Iruka swore and started the seals for a water jutsu to put it out. Naruto smiled as it got closer, the smile turning to a grin when it was about a meter away from him. He thrust his bokken at the fireball.

"**Takezo-ryu: Dangan"**

A burst of wind hit the fireball with enough power to disperse it instead of making it grow, which continued forward to smack Sasuke hard enough to throw him out of the ring.

Naruto glared at the Uchiha, _Absolutely pathetic, to use a potentially lethal jutsu on a fellow shinobi because he can't stand to lose._

The blonde turned to see Kiba whistling and clapping loudly, with Chouji clapping as well. Shikamaru smiled at the blonde while Shino nodded, showing his approval of the ass-whooping.

"Yo, Naruto, come on over here!" Kiba shouted. Anyone who laid Sasuke out like that had to be a good guy.

Naruto smiled at the group of boys as he made his way to them. A wave of Killer Intent washed over him, and he slowly turned to see 99 of the female populace of the class glaring at him, all holding some form of weapon. Cocking an eyebrow, he disappeared from sight as they all lunged at him.

Appearing between Kiba and Shino, Naruto let out a huff, "God damn crazy broads. How do they expect to be kunoichi like that?"

Kiba laughed and clapped Naruto on the back while Shino merely nodded. After class was dismissed, the group of friends invited Naruto to come to a BBQ restaurant. Naruto spent the hours there getting to know his classmates, and immediately decided he wanted to be on a team with some of this lot.

Soon enough the sun started to disappear over the horizon, casting a red glow over the village. Groaning in relief as he stood up and popped his back, Naruto waved a disappeared in a flicker of light, headed towards the Namikaze Estate.

* * *

The surrounding forest was quite peaceful, and the last rays of sunlight giving it a breathtaking quality. Naruto slowed his pace from a jog to a slow walk to take in the sight before he reached a natural clearing.

The first thing Naruto noticed was the water running around and through the clearing, which had red wooden bridges built over them at certain places and was edged by smooth, grey stones. Naruto looked a little closer and noticed that there were fish swimming through the streams.

The main house was partly on the land, partly above the water. It had pale yellow walls and traditional roofing, the support beams and roof brown giving the small mansion a traditional feel to it. There were a few rail-less balcony's that sat over the water, decorated with stones and plants.

The lush shrubbery that surrounded the estate was amazing. It was mostly green except for the few plants here and there in autumn colours, giving the house a warm feel. Separated from the mainland via the streams was what looked to be possibly servant quarters, maybe even a dojo. It connected to the main house by a smaller version of the arching red bridges.

Naruto walked up to the main shoji and slid it open. Naruto slipped inside and toed off his boots before stepping up onto the tatami floor. The receiving room was fairly small, walled off by fusuma that were decorated with a forest scene. Smiling, he slid open the nearest one and walked into what seemed to be a simple gathering area. In the small alcove that was in one of the walls, a scroll was hanging, flanked by a pair of candles, which held the Namikaze spiral on it at the top and what seemed to be a creed below it.

Continuing past, he slid open the shoji and walked out into the roofed hall which was open on one side, the stream easily accessible, while on the other was a series of 3 shoji which led to different rooms. The first was a simple sitting room, possibly used for tea ceremonies or other such things. The next was a blank, empty room with nothing in it. The third was a study, judging from the empty shelves and desk situated in the room.

Following the hallway around the corner, he saw a small island across the stream, situated next to a small waterfall where the some of the water came from. It was filed with rocks and had a single bonsai on a slightly elevated part. Smiling, he turned back and continued down the hall, opening doors to find two bedrooms, a training dojo, much to his delight, and a storage.

He headed back to the sitting room and went through the fusama on the other side, which led to an indoor hallway, which connected to the kitchen, a bathroom which was in the traditional style of a small area to wash oneself off, which had been modernized to be a shower, and then hop into the nearby onsen. Further down he found the hall was connected to the storage room on the other side of the house.

Continuing his exploration, he found several more bedrooms, each in a similar design, the only difference being the scenes on the fusuma walls. As he explored, he realized he was going to need to buy a fair amount of furniture, as most of the stuff here, despite being unnaturally free of dust and grime, was old.

He finally got to the bridge that connected the main house to the smaller one on the other side of the stream, and found he was right in the fact it was a servants quarters. What surprised him was the fact the place looked recently used, when he had been under the impression that the Namikaze estate had been sealed off since the Yondaime.

"Hey kid."

Naruto spun around and had his katana out, aimed at the throat of his would-be attacker, only to find Kenji and Sarutobi standing with amused expressions on their faces.

"Err, hey, Kenji-tou-san, Sarutobi-jiji," Naruto said, slipped the Jato back into its normal, colourful sheath.

"Naruto-kun, I forgot to tell you that the Namikaze clan has a family that work form them, essentially servants, but Minato and his family before him treated them as if they were Namikaze."

Naruto nodded, that explained why the place was so clean, "So who are they?"

"Their family name is Kazama," Sarutobi started, "They were sworn to the Namikaze clan during the times when chakra was barely known, let alone used. They are basically an extended part of the family, like the Hyuuga Main house and Branch house, without the seals."

"Oh," Naruto said. "So, where are they?"

Kenji spoke up here, "Sarutobi dismissed them earlier, and I think they went into town to do some shopping." With Naruto's nod, he continued talking, "By the way, I am going to be staying in town until the day after you become a Genin, so tomorrow we are going shopping. I wish your kaa-san were here, she has much better taste than I do."

Naruto snorted before it became a full blown laugh. That was an understatement. Kenji had wanted to buy a loincloth for when it was too hot in the summer. She beat that out of him quick smart.

"So Naruto, pick out a room and use your mission sleeping bag for now. I'm gonna go catch up with the Ino-Shika-Chou gang, they always know the best place for sake."

Kenji ruffled Naruto's hair before bopping the old man on the head with a "Remember what we talked about," before he left via the trees.

"So Naruto-kun, did you make any friends at the Academy?"

"Oh yeah…"

* * *

**Takezo-ryu: Dangan – Takezo School: Bullet**

**Shoji – Washi Paper Door/Room Divider**

**Fusuma – Opaque Rectangular Door/Room Divider**

**Tatami – Straw Woven Flooring Mats**


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Team Seven**

The sun was blearing down on the grounds outside the Academy. The senior class was lined up outside ready for the shuriken/kunai throwing portion of the test. Then it would be a written test, and finally a jutsu test.

"Ok, first up…" Iruka started, calling out the names in alphabetical order. Soon enough it was nearing the end.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasuke stood up and took five kunai and five shuriken from Iruka, a smug grin on his face. Positioning the weapons between his fingers, he threw them all in quick succession, making one hit another and so on until all the targets were hit, only two missing the bullseye.

"Good, good, next we have Uzumaki-Takezo Naruto."

Naruto walked past Sasuke, who shoulder barged him, trying to make Naruto fall. To Sasuke's surprise, he hit something that felt like steel and fell flat on his own ass. The blonde chuckled and walked up to the Chuunin, taking the weapons.

Stepping up to the plate, Naruto barely even looked at the dummy before he hurled the weapons at it. Most 'missed' hitting areas where the targets were away from. One even hit the back wall.

"Naruto, I'm sorry but that was a poor and failed attempt."

Sakura's banshee like wail came from somewhere in the back, "Hahaha! Sasuke-kun is way more awesome than that dobe!"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow and looked at Iruka, "Actually, Iruka-san, you'll find that all the places the kunai hit would instantly cripple or kill an opponent, just in more subtle manners than where the targets are located. And if you look closer, you'll see that the kunai lodged into the back wall is holding the exact centre of the bullseye that is located over the heart."

Iruka's eyes widened as the blonde spoke, before he immediately rushed down to check if what he had said was true. Sure enough, all the kunai and shuriken hit instantly crippling or death-inducing areas.

"Uzumaki Naruto passes this portion with flying colours…" Iruka mumbled.

Smiling, Naruto stepped back towards his classmates, to find the fan girl populace and Sasuke all giving him death glares, and the non-fan girls clapping.

After Naruto, the last one to go was Ino, who got near perfect scores, only beaten by Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto.

Iruka marched them back into the classroom, where he immediately set about delivering the written test.

'_What the hell is this?' _Naruto thought. _'When in damnation is the history of the Hokage Monument going to come in handy?'_

Sighing, Naruto took to fiddling with his pencil, making it spin in his hand with chakra. He only answered the necessary questions in order to pass with minimum grades. Honestly.

The final test was a simple jutsu test where the Genin hopeful had to use the **Kawarimi, Henge **and **Bunshin. **Naruto laughed when he was called into the back room, giving Kiba a hi-five as he walked past. The brash dog user reminded him a lot of Miyamoto.

"Ok Naruto lets see you use the Henge, then Kawarimi and finally Bunshin," Mizuki stated, a sneer on his face.

Naruto shrugged and a second later, there was a cloud of smoke that appeared around him. _No handseals! _Iruka thought. _That's at least high chuunin level to low jounin level control._

A second later, Naruto appeared looking as if he hadn't even done anything. Iruka sweat dropped, "Naruto, how about not using a smoke bomb and actually doing the techniques."

Beside him, 'Mizuki' started to snicker, before it became a full blown laughter. 'Mizuki' was surrounded in a plume of smoke, which dispersed to reveal a laughing Naruto sitting next to him. The Naruto ahead of him moved to the side to reveal the actual Mizuki, hogtied and knocked unconscious.

"I think I pass, eh, Iruka-san?" Naruto asked around his sniggers.

Iruka snorted, but otherwise restrained his amusement, "Sure thing. Take the headband and go."

Naruto grinned, picking up a hitai-ate on his way out. Flicking his hand lazily at his clone, it immediately disappeared in a flicker of light.

* * *

"Naruto-sama, tea is ready!"

Naruto groaned as he sat up from his purple zabuton, his muscles tightening and loosening as he stretched. He had been pouring over a sealing scroll for the past three hours in the study, his legs being warmed by the kotatsu.

Silently padding along the hallway, Naruto was in awe of the full moon, which illuminated the surrounding waterways and reflected it off it giving the house an almost mystical quality.

Reaching the tea room, he slid open the door to find one Kazama Shigeru, a 60 year old with big bushy eyebrows and balding white hair, pouring the green frothy liquid into a cup, Kenji sitting on the other side of the table and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio all on one side, chatting with Kenji.

"Konbanwa!" Naruto said, bowing as he entered the room.

The group of men looked up from their tea, and what looked to be dango, and smiled at Naruto. Chouza stood up and gave Naruto a bear hug.

"Naruto-kun, you've gotten big since you were 7!"

Naruto laughed and nodded, a grin settling across his face.

**(Flashback)**

A 7 year old Naruto had just finished his chores for the day, and he was headed back to the farm house when he noticed a silhouette in the distance getting bigger and bigger. Raising his hoe, he aimed it at the oncoming figure only to see a rather large man carrying two others on his back.

"Hey kid! Do you know who Takezo Kenji is!?"

Naruto didn't answer verbally, just nodded.

"Well? Hurry up and take me to him!"

Snapping into action, Naruto turned and dashed down towards the house, surprised that the beefy man could keep up. His forehead was glistened with sweat and judging by that hitai-ate he was a Konoha shinobi.

"Tou-san! Quick, some men need help!"

Kenji's head appeared in the doorway before his eyes went wide, obviously recognizing the shinobi. Throwing open the door completely, Naruto heard him call for his wife as the large man came barging through the door.

"Chouza-kun! What happened?" came his mother's voice.

"We were ambushed on the way back to Konoha. Shikaku and Inoichi are pretty banged up, but we killed most of them."

Haruhi nodded and immediately disappeared into one of the back rooms, before coming back out with a medical kit. Naruto watched as his mother went through a series of medical jutsu on the unconscious pair while Kenji helped patch up Chouza.

They ended up staying for a few days to let them heal, and during that time Miyamoto and Naruto found out how Konoha teams functioned.

**(End Flashback)**

"Put him down, Chouza, you are crushing the poor brat," came Inoichi's mirthful voice.

Naruto laughed even more when Chouza dropped him and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Naruto motioned for the large man to sit back down as Naruto himself sat.

"So Naruto," Shikaku started, "Out of the Students in your class, who do you want to be in a team with?"

"Hmm," he drank deeply from his cup before replying, "Well, I suppose I would be well teamed up with Shikamaru and Shino. From what I have gathered about Shino, I am one of the few people he actually talks to, and Shikamaru is another he talks to. They are both smart, and on the teamwork side of things, we have skills that complement each other. Shikamaru can capture an opponent with his shadow while Shino continuously drained their chakra, reducing their chance of escaping the shadow imitation. Also, Shikamaru could capture an opponent while I use my sword to eliminate them."

"That works out well," Kenji muttered around the dango stick currently propped in his mouth.

Naruto glanced outside to see it was well into the night. Standing up, Naruto bowed to the group, "The exams are tomorrow so I shall be heading to bed. Goodnight, Tou-san, Shikaku-san, Inoichi-san, Chouza-san."

A chorus of "goodnight's" reached him as he walked out onto the hallway overlooking the pond the house sat above. Breathing in the night air, he turned and made his way to his bedroom, where he had set up his mission sleeping bag for the night.

* * *

Naruto slipped quietly into his seat at the Academy, awaiting the announcement of the new teams. He looked around and prayed he would not be on the pink haired banshee's team. He tuned out until Iruka finally got to his team.

"Team 7, Uzumaki-Takezo Naruto, Haruno Sakura--"

Naruto swore not so subtly when he heard her name.

"-- and Uchiha Sasuke. Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto swore even louder at that. What the fuck? The two most pathetic Genin to pass? Admittedly, Sasuke seemed to be a decent ninja when he wasn't acting all high and mighty, said times were few and very, _very _far in between according to Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Team 8 will be…"

And so it continued on like that. Iruka announced that the team senseis would come and pick up their students. One by one, the teams left until there was only Iruka and Team 7 remaining in the room. Even Iruka left eventually, having a meeting to attend.

Sakura was currently trying to, for all intents and purposes, rape Sasuke. Said Uchiha was staring nonchantly out the window, but still had all his senses trained on the pink haired whore.

For the next hour, Naruto sat up in the top corner of the room, hidden in the shadows, his legs folded under him and meditating, while Sakura kept trying to glomp Sasuke, who was inching closer and closer to the window. It was this scene that Kakashi walked in on, and sweat dropped when he saw what looked like a needle in Sakura's hand.

"This team 7?" Sakura immediately started screeching at him for being late, "My first impression of you is… I hate you. Meet me on the roof in 5 minutes."

The silver haired Jounin walked out of the room, followed quickly by Sasuke who was stalked by Sakura. Naruto shook his head and disappeared with a flicker of light.

"So, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi said, leaning lazily against the railing.

Sakura, being the dumb bitch she is, asked the stupidest question ever, "How?"

"How about your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, that kind of thing?" Kakashi sighed.

Sakura still looked confused, "Why don't you go first, sensei?"

The jounin blinked at her, "Alright, well my name is Hatake Kakashi… I like many things… I dislike some things… I have a few hobbies… As for my dream, you're too young to understand it."

"So, pinky, you're up." Sakura huffed indignantly at being called pinky, but it was quickly dispelled as she shot a sidelong glance to Sasuke, blushing the whole time. "My name is Haruno Sakura…I like…" She shot another sidelong glance to Sasuke, before gaining what little composure she had left. "My dislikes…Ino-pig! And people who don't like Sasuke-kun…" With that, she threw a glare at Naruto, who only shrugged. "My hobbies…" She giggled again… "My dream…" She completely flipped out at this, going into a giggle fit of epic proportions, after shooting another long glance at Sasuke.

Kakashi mentally groaned. A fucking lovesick fan girl of a Genin. Wonderful. How the hell did she pass the Genin test anyway? He pointed to Sasuke. "You, the brooding one, go."

Sasuke seemed to think for a moment, before answering in his typical brooding and unemotional voice. "Uchiha Sasuke. I have very few likes, and I dislike quite a lot. I have no hobbies, but I have…an ambition. To revive my clan and to kill…a certain man." Sasuke finished on a cold note, giving Sakura dispense to giggle like a horny schoolgirl again, while preaching his virtues.

Kakashi simply stared at the boy. _'Don't worry Sasuke-kun, the council sent me to help.'_ He put his thoughts aside for the moment, and finally pointed to the person he was truly curious about. "You, Blondie, go."

Naruto shrugged and answered with a smile, "My name is Uzumaki-Takezo Naruto. I like training, reading, meeting friendly people and learning new techniques. I dislike people who don't appreciate the value of hard work, and fan girls who have no idea what it means to be a kunoichi. My hobbies would be studying new sword styles, and creating my own. I guess my dream would be to make my parents proud." Naruto was thinking of both the Takezo's and his birthparents as he said the final piece.

Kakashi observed the blonde, having read his file about being a Kenjutsu user who trained under Takezo Kenji. _'He could be problematic to my mission from the council…'_

"Alrighty then, meet at Training Ground Seven for your first assignment tomorrow morning a seven o' clock. See ya' then! Oh, and don't eat breakfast, you'll just puke." the masked Jounin then disappeared in a puff of smoke before anyone could say anything.

"Wait! Dammit, we didn't get any info on him at all!" Sakura screamed.

Sasuke just scoffed and went back to his brooding, but he was interrupted by Sakura asking him if he wanted to go out and get some food.

"So, how about it Sasuke-kun?" the pink haired girl asked hopefully.

"No." Sasuke replied flatly.

Naruto snorted before he disappeared from sight, leaving behind a stoic Uchiha and fuming Haruno.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Bell Test**

Naruto was staring at the scroll he had received from Sarutobi when he had first arrived a few days ago. He was only now getting to the seals marked _Namikaze_ and _Uzumaki_. He had opened the seal addressed to him yesterday, which held a letter for him.

**(Flashback)**

Naruto swiped his bloody thumb over the seal marked _Naruto_, and deftly caught a letter which appeared. Turning it over in his hands a few times, he sighed and started to read.

_Naruto,_

_By the time you have received this, your caretaker has deemed you strong enough to protect the secrets it holds. If my wishes were followed, you should have been taken in by either Kenji or Jiraiya (Kami if you end up a pervert because of him, your mother will kill me) who have been named your godfathers. Yes, we couldn't decide on one, so we just let them both be godfather. Anyway, as I write this, the Kyuubi is getting closer, so I need to be quick._

_If you haven't been told by now, I am Namikaze Minato, also known as Kazama Arashi (this is the name most of the nations and Konoha know), Yondaime Hokage and your father. _

_On the night of the Kyuubi attack, your mother was sent into premature labor. You were not due to be born for another two weeks, but due to the stress caused from the attack she was forced into it. Because of this sadly… I'm sorry Naruto… I'm trying to control myself while writing this for you but it's just too hard to do right now… Because she went into labor prematurely, she was not entirely ready, nor were you. When the doctors performed the surgery to remove you from your mother's womb, she lost a great deal of blood… Because of this they were never able to……_

The last part was too hard to read from all of the tear stains that covered it. Naruto didn't need an expert to tell him though. From the way his father spoke he could guess what happened. His mother died.

_I had planned on sealing the Kyuubi away since I heard of the attack, but the only thing strong enough to hold it would be a newborn with undeveloped chakra coils. I'm so sorry, Naruto. The main seals are the _**Shiki Fujin, **_along with the _**Hakke no Fuin Shiki. **_There are a bunch of other seals there as well, but I don't have time to explain them all. Most can be located in my journal, which you can find in the cave behind the waterfall at the Namikaze Estate._

_Anyway, I don't have much time life, so I leave you with the clan scrolls for the Namikaze, which will explain our origins and skills, and the Uzumaki, which your mother brought with her when she came to Konoha as a refugee._

_Son, I hope you grow up to, or have grown up to be a great person. Never let your anger or hatred blind you, and lead you astray. Always keep a clear mind, and focus on what is important in life. Enjoy yourself while you can, and always be there for your friends, family, and village._

_With my deepest regards, and love,_

_Namikaze Minato,_

_Yondaime Hokage._

_Your loving father._

**(End Flashback)**

Naruto sighed and leant back against the zabuton he was sitting on. His father had apparently loved him, which he supposed should mean something. But the fact he had sealed a freaking _demon _in his stomach didn't help. He couldn't exactly blame him though, either, because if he was honest, he himself wouldn't be able to ask another family to give up their newborn.

Unsealing the Uzumaki scroll, Naruto was almost immediately drooling. Their clan was a spiral, similar to the Namikaze clan, except crossing over it was a pair of Kodachi, forming an 'x'.

_Uzumaki Clan_

_The Uzumaki clan are one of the original clans of Uzu no Kuni. They were trained to be body guards to daimyo's across the lands, specializing in defensive tactics and swordplay. This job was quite common among the clan until the first few clans of ninja came to Whirlpool, during which the Uzumaki clan adopted the way of the Shinobi._

_Within this scroll are the secrets to the Uzumaki Ryu, the famed dual-sword school of Uzu no Kuni. In later years, when Ninjutsu and Genjutsu were preferred rather than kenjutsu, the clan adopted Ninjutsu into the use of the Uzumaki Ryu, giving the style even more devastating effects._

_Despite originally being a style to easily move around a single person to defend from all sides, it evolved into a style that can be used to swerve in and out of enemies at close quarters, and the best users can take down small armies of samurai, and even shinobi._

_Sealed at the bottom of the scroll are the family swords, a set of dual kodachi designed to be wielded backhanded, and a set of forearm guards and shin guards, which are used in tandem with the Uzumaki Ryu._

_Written by,_

_Uzumaki Kushina,_

_Last remaining member of the Uzumaki_

Naruto read through the scroll at an amazing pace, absorbing the information written within the scroll. The sword style was magnificent, and could be easily used with wind, water or fire chakra, though with the Uzumaki clan it was mostly water.

He unsealed the swords first, and found them as beautiful as the Jato. Then again, he was a sword fanatic, so he found almost any sword beautiful. The hilt on the first was a simple black silk wrap, weaved to leave a diamond pattern running down the middle of the hilt. The wood underneath was painted red, giving the diamond shapes a blue shade. The other hilt was the opposite of the first, having a red silk wrap and black diamonds running down the hilt.

The blades themselves were about 17 inches long, and there were several almost invisible seals running along the blades, making them next to indestructible and eternally sharp, though the second one could be reversed during training to make the blades blunt.

Spinning them both, Naruto found them quite light and figured there was another seal on the weapon somewhere that reduced the weight somehow. Sliding them back into their plain sheaths, one black the other red, he turned back to the scroll and unsealed the armor.

The guards were a simple black in colour, with red lining the edges. They were designed to look like the kodachi, he assumed. In the middle of each was the symbol of the Uzumaki clan in red, shining against the black background.

Looking down at his own clothes, he realized that he needed to get a change of wardrobe. Probably black and red as well, he had to admit, he liked the colour combination.

Reaching back to the scroll, he picked it up and slipped it into a pocket for safe keeping. All his pockets had seals on them to completely seal them off when they were closed, to keep things like scrolls safe from water. He strapped the limb guards to his forearms and shins before picking up the kodachi.

Thinking for a moment, he grinned and picked up a blank bit of scrap paper and drew a storing seal on it, with the kanji for Kodachi in the center. Adding his chakra to it, he moved the paper around to just above his right hip on his back, and rubbed the ink on as if it were a rub-on tattoo. He used his chakra to make it stay and sealed his kodachi there.

Grinning, he walked out of the study and gazed across at the small waterfall. His father's journal was apparently hidden behind there, but he decided to leave it for now and do some shopping instead.

* * *

Naruto cracked his neck left and right, giving off a loud 'pop' as he walked into a shinobi store. Whistling a lazy tune, he wandered through the aisles, but only ended up grabbing a few mesh shirts and some pairs of black, baggy pants that had mesh threaded between the fabrics, giving it more protection.

Wandering up to the counter, he smiled at the girl who was currently sleeping on the counter. She had a pink, oriental top on and her hair was done up into a pair of buns. Rapping on the countertop twice, she immediately shot up with a kunai in hand.

Naruto cleared his throat, "Err, hi?"

The girl, seeing it was a customer, smiled sheepishly, "Hi… sorry bout that. I guess I am a bit jumpy after my last mission."

Naruto nodded and shrugged, "I can understand that. Here I wanted to buy these, and I was wondering if you did custom orders?"

The girl nodded and racked up the price of the clothing he handed her, "Yeah we do custom stuff. My mom normally does that while me and my dad handle the weapon side of things. I'm TenTen, by the way."

"Uzumaki-Takezo Naruto," replied the blonde, smiling at her when she gasped.

"You're the new genin that's gotten everyone riled up? Takezo Kenji's kid?"

Naruto grinned and nodded.

"Kenji is like, my dad's idol! He would be mine too if Tsunade of the Sannin didn't exist!" TenTen exclaimed.

Chuckling, Naruto replied, "Well I'm sure Kenji-tou-san wouldn't mind meeting a few new people… but those custom jobs?"

Shaking her head, TenTen nodded, "Right, what can I get you?"

"Well, I am looking for a slate grey top that folds from right to left, and clipped up with simple steel push-buttons, that wont come undone during a fight. Err, maybe a few plates of armor or something between the fabrics but not so much that it reduces mobility." Naruto spoke, and TenTen copied down his order, "Oh, and a long, red coat with black flames across the bottom, long sleeves that can be fitted with forearm guards, and these symbols on the shoulders and back."

Naruto handed her a piece of paper that had the Takezo clan seal, which looked a lot like the leaf ANBU symbol but with a few additional lines, under it was written 'Right Shoulder'. The next was the Namikaze seal, a counterclockwise spiral that had double lines, under which was written 'Left Shoulder'. The final seal was the Uzumaki seal, under it was written 'Back'.

TenTen nodded and took the paper, "That comes to 23,200 ryou for the mesh tops, 18,500 ryou for the pants. The custom top and coat will come to around 60,000 ryou, which includes the custom fee."

Naruto nodded and took out a simple drawstring pouch from one of his pockets, and withdrew 100,000 ryou in notes, and handed the money to TenTen. "When can I come around and pick up the custom gear?"

TenTen looked at the money for a second, before turning back to the blonde, "Err, tomorrow if you want to pay an extra 7,000—"

Naruto dropped the money on the counter and nodded to her. Grinning, he grabbed his purchases and started making his way out of the store, waving over his shoulder. His eyes caught a slate grey leather band, which was used to tie long hair out of the way. He picked it up and called back, "How much is this?"

TenTen's voice came across, "On the house!"

Naruto grinned, thanked her, and walked out.

* * *

It was the next day, and following Kenji's, Sarutobi's and even old Shigeru's advice, and went to pick up his custom made gear before heading to the clearing for Kakashi's test. Apparently he was always late by a minimum of two hours unless it was for a mission.

Strolling into the clearing, his new coat billowed in the wind along with his hair, which had been tied at the back with his new leather band. It wrapped along his hair for about two inches before a yellow tuft of hair sprouted out at the end, looking like a fox's tail.

Sakura started screaming at him for being late, and Sasuke gave him a death glare. Shrugging, Naruto leaned against a tree and folded his arms across his chest before responding.

"Well if you actually paid attention yesterday, you would have noticed he didn't show up until he was almost exactly two hours late. Also, Iruka-san didn't seem surprised that Hatake-san was late, and his stance when walking, despite giving off the aura of a jounin, also screams laziness. So I followed my instincts and the proof given, and didn't arrive until a few minutes before he would show up."

Sure enough, two minutes later Kakashi appeared.

"YOU'RE LATE!!" Sakura screamed, making Sasuke, who she was trying to glomp, hiss in pain.

Kakashi chuckled and waved his hand, "Maa, maa. A black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around."

"LIAR!" the pink haired banshee screamed again.

Kakashi chuckled again before he pulled out two bells, "Okay, this is the test. You are to get these bells off me before noon."

Sakura looked confused… again, "Neh, Kakashi-sensei, there are only two bells."

"Exactly," setting down a timer, Kakashi turned around, "No matter what, one of you will fail and go back to the Academy." He waited a second, "Go!"

Three blurs shot off in different directions. Kakashi nodded, '_Good, they can at least all hide pretty well. There's Sakura… there's Sasuke-kun… where the hell is Naruto?'_

Kakashi shrugged and turned, only to come face to face with a blonde haired, coat wearing man leaning against a nearby tree, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes shut. '_Se-sensei!?'_

Kakashi rubbed at his eye, and looked at the tree again, only to find the figure gone. Letting out a breath, Kakashi's shoulders slumped as he pulled out his copy of _Icha Icha. 'I'm just seeing things. Just flashbacks of when he took me through this test.'_

Kakashi went to turn the page, only to have his book fall to shreds in his hands. Single eye widened before the single, loudest scream that Konoha had ever heard pierced the heavens.

Naruto snorted, and Kakashi spun on the spot, Sharingan blazing to find Naruto standing behind him, his katana unsheathed and resting over his shoulder. His eyebrow twitched when he saw a page from his book in his free hand.

"You… you will pay!"

Naruto snorted again before he disappeared in a flicker of light, closely followed by Kakashi. The pair looked like they were playing a high paced version of tag, with Kakashi getting just close enough before Naruto would disappear again.

'_How the hell is this kid so fast? That's it, no more messing around!'_

With that, Kakashi stepped it up a notch and started to move at his full speed, causing him a minor case of tunnel vision as he caught up with the blonde.

Naruto swore and quickly made several simple **Bunshin**'s, and they all went in different directions while Naruto made his way up the tree he was on and doubled back. He saw Kakashi race off after one of the clones, and almost laughed out loud.

There was only another ten minutes left, and Kakashi had finally stopped chasing the clones. He realized he had been fooled, and felt ashamed at falling for such a trick, especially with his Sharingan out.

Soon enough he found Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke standing at the logs. Naruto was leaning against one in a perfect imitation of a bored Yondaime, with Sasuke glaring at the blonde and Sakura glaring at him as well because Sasuke was glaring at him.

The ringing of the alarm went off, and Kakashi smirked under his mask, "Well I guess you fail."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow and raised the two bells, jingling them in front of his face. He tossed one to Sasuke and the other to Sakura before smirking at Kakashi's stunned expression. He had heard all about the bell test from Kenji when he was younger, so he knew it was about 'teamwork'.

"Naruto, you don't have a bell. You will have to go back to the Academy."

Naruto stood tall and straightened his back and shoulders, "Actually, a Genin team must be a three man cell with a Jounin sensei, so either I pass or we all fail. And then there is the fact that, if this were a mission, I offered to stay behind and fend off the enemy while my teammates got the item back to Konoha."

Kakashi swore under his breath. He was right, of course, but he really wanted to tie the damn smug brat to the log. Sighing, Kakashi relented. "Fine, you all pass. See you tomorrow at the Hokage tower for your first missions."

* * *

Naruto groaned in pain as he fell back onto the wooden boards in the Namikaze Estate hallway. Unleashing his gravity seal like that really did a number on his muscles. Flipping through a quick set of seals, he reactivated the gravity seal to x7, and hissed in pain when he felt his muscles start being ripped to shreds only to regenerate a few seconds later, stronger than before.

**(Flashback)**

"Naruto-kun, why are you messing around with Minato's seal scroll?"

Naruto looked up to Kenji and grinned innocently, immediately warranting Kenji's worry. He looked down at the seal that the blonde had been looking at, and almost swore when he saw the gravity seal.

"Naruto, please tell me you didn't use this seal!"

The blonde smiled sheepishly and turned around, showing the seal located on the back of his neck. Kenji glanced at it and noticed it was at x3 normal gravity. That shouldn't be possible. Even when Minato was a full grown adult he could only get up to x4, but this 10 year old had it set to x3 and seemed to be fine.

"Naruto, what happened when you activated that seal?"

"Pain," Naruto mumbled, "I felt like I was being stabbed all over, again and again. Then when it stopped, I felt stronger, faster than ever. But I can't seem to move any faster."

Kenji's eyes widened, "Kyuubi…"

Naruto cocked his head in confusion, "What does the Kyuubi have to do with this?"

"Listen, normally that seal gradually increases the effects of gravity on you, slowly building up your muscle strength and your natural speed. Minato developed that as a precursor to his Hiraishin. He still used it until his dying days. Now, I think that yours didn't just gradually increase, but knocked a whole lot of gravity onto you in a matter of seconds, and your muscles were destroyed under the pressure.

"However, I think the Kyuubi's regenerative capabilities kicked into overdrive, and built up your muscles to be able to withstand the constant pressure. Now, whenever you release that seal, you should move a lot faster than normal, and even with the seal active, your physical strength will be unnaturally high."

**(End Flashback)**

Turning over, he dragged himself back to his room and flopped down onto the futon, ready for sleep to overcome him.


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Mission to Wave**

A red and black blur shot around a clear training field, surrounded by blonde haired, red coated imitations. Constant plumes of smoke seemed to rise into the air every few seconds around different places in the field.

The blur, one Uzumaki Takezo Namikaze Naruto, was training both his new sword style, the Uzumaki Ryuu, and the new jutsu Kenji had shown him, **Kage Bunshin**. He had to admit, the shadow clones were dead useful for mass training, since he retained the experiences that the clones had during their 'life times', but thankfully didn't feel the pain they felt.

Over the past few weeks, Naruto and Team 7 had performed D rank after D rank, and Naruto was glad he had something to do in his spare time. Those missions were pathetic chores, not exactly tasks that required a shinobi team. And if he had to catch that Kami forsaken cat one more time, he was going to cut its head off.

Slipping down close to the ground, Naruto held out his kodachis and corkscrewed upwards, 'killing' six clones with the spin. Using a nearby clone as a vault, he lunged at a group of clones and spun his swords in front of him like a drill.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto twisted around to find the brown haired Tenten cutting through his clones with a katana. Grinning, he twirled his kodachi and stood up straight, holding the weapons loosely at his sides.

"What's up, Tenten?" he asked.

"Nothing much," she grinned, "Just wondering if you wanted a sparring match. I want to see how good you have gotten with those kodachi of yours."

Naruto grinned back at her. The two had become fast friends after meeting at Tenten's family's store. Nodding, he lowered into a stance with one of his kodachi leaning against his forearm in front of him, while the other was poised in his hand behind him.

Tenten slipped into a simple Kenjutsu stance and the pair immediately rushed forward. Naruto caught Tenten's katana with his first sword, sparks flying out from the impact. Swinging his other around, he aimed a strike at her stomach only to have her jump away.

Smiling, Naruto jumped up and twirled 180 degrees so his head was facing the ground and his legs were above him. Using the momentum, he spun his kodachis as he crossed over Tenten. The girl blocked the strikes and lunged at him just before he landed. She watched in horror as he didn't move and the katana struck his chest.

"Neh, Ten-chan. Seems I still haven't gotten the hang of that midair twist yet," Naruto chirped, grinning as he slapped away her katana.

_The armour… how did I forget about that? _Tenten thought as she moved back and settled back into her stance.

She stared at Naruto in fascination as he flicked open the pommel of the black hilt kodachi and slammed the pommel of the red one into it. The end of the black one opened and dropped out a long chain, which Naruto took a hold of.

"Come, Tenten."

Nodding, she dashed forward only to have to sidestep as the joined kodachi flew at her, spinning like a tornado. The chain curved, and so did the rotating blades before Naruto yanked the chain and deftly caught the weapon by its hilt.

"Like it?" he asked, "I found out about this just yesterday."

"It's beautiful, Naruto-kun…" Tenten mumbled, staring at the new weapon in awe.

Naruto quickly unfastened the hilts and sealed the now separate kodachis into their seal on his lower back. Smiling, he walked over to Tenten and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks for the spar Ten-chan. I need to go collect yet another boring D-rank mission. Say hi to Lee for me, okay?"

Tenten nodded and bopped Naruto on the head with the flat of her katana, "Sure think, Naruto-kun. I'll see you later!"

Naruto waved over his shoulder as he ran off towards the Hokage tower, hit coat billowing behind him.

* * *

"Let's see… there is a garden that needs to be weeded, Tora has escape—"

"Sarutobi-jiji, as far as I'm aware, Team 7 has done the amount of missions needed to go on a C-rank mission." Naruto droned, snapping the leather bound journal he was reading shut.

"Now listen here, Naruto! You are only Genin! And fresh out of the academy!" Iruka roared, his head growing to almost 4x its normal size.

The Hokage waved him down and puffed on his pipe, "Well I suppose that's true… Hmm" the old man shifted through the mission scrolls sitting in front of him and spotted a nice simple one. "Ah, here we go. An escort mission, where you will escort the client to Wave and watch over him until he completes the bridge he is building. Tazuna-san, come in!"

The door slid open and in stumbled a bearded drunk, a straw hat hanging around his neck, "Eh, I asked for protection! Not some gaki's!"

Naruto's left eyebrow twitched, but he merely intoned, "Tazuna-san, we are more than capable of protecting you against the threat of bandits between here and wave country."

Kakashi nodded, "And I am an elite Jounin, so there should be no problems at all."

If one looked closely, they would have seen the beads of nervous sweat start forming on Tazuna's chin and neck, "Yeah, bandits…"

Kakashi turned to his team, "Meet at the North Gate in one hour," he turned back to Tazuna, "You too sir."

* * *

Naruto picked up a scroll marked 'C-Rank' and slipped it into his modified bandolier, which held four other scrolls. He connected the scroll-carrying belt to his normal utility belt at the buckle, and wrapped it loosely around and over his left thigh before reconnecting it to a buckle on the other side of his utility belt.

Grabbing Minato's journal, he picked up a small scroll and slipped it into one of his sealed pockets. This scroll had an inbuilt inkwell and brush for quick sealing.

Turning to run out of his study, he ran headlong into none other than Tenten. Or more specifically, her breasts.

"Err, hi there Tenten. I was just coming to see you, actually," the blonde managed to get out, forcing himself to not let perverted thoughts cloud his mind.

"I hope so," Tenten said sweetly, almost too sweetly, "Because I just heard your going on a C-Rank outside the village."

Naruto cringed and slowly edged towards the shoji, "Yeah, I was gonna tell you I won't be in the village for around a month or so. Ehehe I really got to go…"

Tenten leaned forward, and Naruto shut his eyes expecting the ungodly painful punch that came from a woman when she came across a pervert, but felt soft, warm lips press against his cheek. Opening his eyes, he saw Tenten's own concern filled brown orbs.

"Be careful, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded and gave Tenten a quick hug before turning and grabbing his black, travelling _kasa_. Waving over his shoulder, he turned his coat inside out to reveal a plain black travelling coat and slipped it back on.

"Anou, who are you sir?" Sakura asked, looking at the black-clad ronin that was standing beside her team.

Naruto chuckled and shifted his hat so it wasn't covering the upper half of his face, and revealed who he was. Sakura screamed and tried to punch him for 'acting cool' while Sasuke just grunted and turned back to the gate.

Tazuna came walking up a second later, Kakashi just behind him. Seeing the group was all there, the gate guards opened the large gates and the team headed through.

Over the next two hours, Sakura asked question after question about Wave. Naruto was almost sleep walking, he arms draped over the Jato's hilt, which had been swapped to its travelling appearance of a plain black katana. Sasuke was walking slightly ahead of the group, ignoring the world and putting off an air of arrogance.

Of the entire group, only Kakashi and Naruto noticed the puddle of water sitting on the side of the road. _It hasn't rained for weeks_ Kakashi mulled. Deciding to test his team out, he continued on as if it were nothing. Naruto's geta were clacking against the earth beneath them slightly softer than before.

The demon brothers appeared from the water, and immediately wrapped their chain around Kakashi and pulled. "One down…" they chanted.

Sakura pissed herself, literally, and Tazuna wasn't much better off. Sasuke was stunned for a second but Naruto didn't miss a beat. Spinning on his heel, Naruto unsheathed the Jato and sliced through the chain like a hot knife through butter.

Shifted the blades trajectory, he brought it back down and sliced through the shorter ones left arm, cleaving it off at the shoulder. Turning again, he snapped his foot out and delivered a geta-clad kick to the stomach of the other one, sending him flying into a tree.

"The Demon Brothers, Meizu and Gozu. Chuunin-level missing-nin from Kirigakure no Sato. Specialize in assassination." Naruto said, picked up the one with a missing left arm and dragging him over to the other, tying them both to the tree. Kakashi appeared a second later and scrunched his nose in distaste at the arm lying in the middle of the road.

"Err, good work Naruto, but was it necessary to take of his arm?"

Naruto just shrugged, "It was better than me lopping his head off, at least this way we can get some information out of him."

Kakashi conceded '_Well that's true.' _"Next time, try and get your teammates help, if you had we might have been able to knock them out without any severed limbs."

Naruto shifted his hat so it was hanging from a cord around his neck, and cocked an eyebrow at the Jounin. "Sakura pissed herself, Tazuna is scared shitless, and Sasuke froze. While it may have been only for a second, that's all the time a competent ninja needs to kill someone."

Kakashi sighed and walked over to Tazuna, getting the necessary information out of him about how Gato was trying to kill him because of the bridge. He then turned back to the Demon Brothers only to find Naruto sealing their heads into a scroll, then kneeling and chanting, what seemed to be a prayer.

"What information did you get?" Kakashi asked.

"Nothing, they both had suicide pills hidden in their mouths before I could ask anything. My bad," Naruto answered, sighing as he stood up and brushed off his pants.

The grey haired Cyclops nodded and turned back to the others in his team, "Well, do you want to keep going?"

Naruto came up beside him, wiping the blood of his katana with a white cloth, "I do. If there is a chance to help a desolate country in need then who are we to turn away from it?"

Sasuke answered with a "Hn" but nodded. Sakura immediately followed his example and Kakashi sighed. He was starting to regret taking the mission to train Sasuke from the council.

"Alright," Kakashi stated, "We will continue, Tazuna-san. But once Wave is back on its feet, we will expect full payment for this mission."

Tazuna nodded and grinned.

* * *

Tazuna, Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi were all sitting in a rowboat, waiting for Naruto to get in. To their surprise and shock, the blonde continued walking out onto the water, his arms hanging on the hilt of his sword and Kakashi could hear the distinct sound of snoring.

"Err, Tazuna-san, we can continue. Naruto will follow along beside us… he seems to be sleeping." Kakashi said his tone chipper and cheerful.

Sakura and Tazuna face planted, while Sasuke sweat dropped. Kakashi chuckled, but internally he was frowning. _'Kenji-sama must have taught him how to do that. Hell, I can only just sleepwalk like that. Then again, Kenji-sama doesn't like to rely on chakra, so walking long distances is a common occurrence for him.'_

The group continued on, with Sakura asking why they were using a rowboat. "Gato practically controls these seas. If we use an engine, one of the large ships he has will hear it and the come and kill us."

Naruto twitched in his sleep, and came back to the land of the living. He was mildly shocked he was walking on top of the water and even more-so when he realized it was the sea, and not a simple flat surface of water. He quickly jumped into the rowboat beside him, and smiled at the group.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

Sakura started to screech, but the blonde quickly slapped a hand across her mouth. "Shut it. This is Gato-controlled territory you stupid pink haired banshee."

"How do you know that Naruto? You were asleep when Tazuna explained that…" Kakashi asked his curiosity piqued.

Naruto shrugged, "I saw the shipping frigate just over there," Naruto pointed in the direction of a large, grey ship, "It has Gato's Shipping Company logo on the side."

Kakashi looked closer, and sure enough there was the large red and blue symbol. Tazuna swore under his breath, and Sakura was about ready to scream again when Naruto slapped her.

"I swear to god if you don't shut up I will gag you and knock you unconscious."

That shut her up quick smart, but she continued to glare at Naruto with a small amount of KI leaking out. Naruto snorted and jumped back out of the rowboat. He took a scroll from his bandolier and unsealed a length of rope from the 'C-Rank' one. Throwing it back onto the boat, he started barking out orders.

"Tie that to something, or if you can't find anything, hold it tight. I am going to pull us past that ship."

Kakashi looked like he was going to tell him not to, but the loud, blaring fog horn sound coming from the nearby ship got him to cooperate. He grabbed the end of the rope and grabbed the sides of the ship. Sakura mimicked him, as did Tazuna, but Sasuke just brooded even more.

Shifting chakra into his legs, Naruto started to run. He didn't want to release his gravity seal at the moment, since he had an odd feeling of apprehension. The boat started to pick up speed, and the group minus Kakashi and Sasuke, looked on in amazement as two more Naruto's appeared beside the first and started pulling the boat as well.

* * *

Naruto fell onto his back, letting his tense muscles relax while the people in the rowboat got out and onto the shore as well. Tazuna waved off the rower, while Kakashi knelt down beside Naruto.

"Arigato, Naruto."

Naruto grinned and laughed. It was one hell of a work out that was for sure. Nodding, he slowly stood up on shaky legs. Groaning, he released part of the gravity seal, setting it down to x4. His body immediately felt better, but he knew when he reactivated the seal later he was going to regret it.

The group continued to walk for a while before Naruto almost cut a rabbit in half. Kakashi, noticing that the animal had the wrong colour fur for the season, immediately screamed "Duck!" while he tackled Tazuna to the ground.

Sasuke dropped, with Sakura falling on top of him by 'accident', while Naruto bent over backwards matrix style and let the giant, spinning sword fly over the top of him. A loud thud echoed behind them, and Naruto turned to see the sword lodged into a tree, with a tall, bandaged faced man standing on top of it.

Naruto's face slowly split into a grin as he reached for the hilt of his own sword. "Momichi Zabuza. A-class nuke-nin from Kirigakure. One of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist."

Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow, "You're a travelling ronin, it seems. You team up with these Shinobi to protect the old man?"

Naruto shrugged while Kakashi revealed his Sharingan. Zabuza turned to the grey haired jounin and grinned, "Sharingan no Kakashi, the Copy Nin of Konoha."

Kakashi rushed Zabuza, shouting something about protecting his comrades. Immediately, the group was surrounded with mist, and the Genins took up position around Tazuna.

"Tazuna-san," Naruto mumbled, "I suggest you kneel down as close to the ground as you can, but stay on your feet incase you need to run."

Tazuna nodded and crouched down, using his hands to balance himself. Naruto would have snorted at the sight if the situation wasn't so tense, he looked like a frog. That's when it hit, the waves of Jounin level killer intent. Naruto felt like he was choking, and Sakura wasn't fairing much better. Sasuke was the worst off; he was aiming a kunai at his own neck.

Naruto curled his fist and dug his nails into his hand as hard as possible. Despite it not being a Genjutsu, the pain helped fend off the KI. Turning, he slapped Sasuke around the head and forced him to put his kunai away.

"Snap out of it, teme! This isn't the time to be committing suicide."

He repeated the process with Sakura and then he heard Zabuza's voice coming from all around. He swore under his breath when he felt the distortion in the air behind him. Zabuza was there. Just as Kakashi appeared, kunai at the ready, Naruto stabbed backwards with his katana. He felt liquid pouring at onto him from the contact point, but it didn't smell like blood.

Looking around, he saw the wound gushing out water right before 'Zabuza' turned into the clear liquid himself. "Mizu bunshin…"

Another Zabuza appeared in front of him, only to be stabbed by Kakashi and turn into water. This process repeated, with Kakashi making his own water clones when Zabuza tried to slice him in two. Eventually Zabuza got in a swift attack, which made Kakashi jump back onto the water.

'_The water seems heavy… wait!' _A second later, Kakashi was trapped in a sphere of water.

"Run! You can't beat Zabuza! Take Tazuna-san and get out of here!" Kakashi screamed.

Zabuza laughed and went on about how he was going to beat them. He made a Mizu bunshin which started on the group. Naruto sighed and moved his arm so his sword was behind him, before swinging it forward in a straight lunge.

**"Takeo-ryuu: Dangan!"**

The compressed air from the sword strike flew forward at the clone; tearing through its chest and making it revert back to its water state. If one looked close enough, they would have seen the bandages covering Zabuza's face move slightly, because underneath he was smirking.

Three Mizu Bunshin's later; Naruto was starting to get annoyed. Sakura and Sasuke were still guarding Tazuna, and didn't look like they were going to help out any time soon.

"My god Sasuke, you are pathetic! Help out here!"

The Uchiha growled and rushed forward, only to be kicked back to his original spot by one of the clones. Naruto snorted under his hat before he sheathed his katana. Reaching behind him, he unsealed his kodachi and joined them together, holding the chain.

He threw it towards the clones, the blades spinning like a saw, and sliced two in half before he moved the chain and aimed at the third clone. This one saw it coming and jumped over it, only to disperse back into water when a kunai from Sasuke reached its head.

Naruto yanked back his swords before releasing them and holding resealing them. Reaching to his bandolier, Naruto withdrew the first scroll of the lot and threw it out in front of him, the scroll unravelling as it did. A series of miniature explosions later, kunai, shuriken, scythes, swords and all other kinds of pointy objects went flying at the real Zabuza.

_'Thanks, Ten-chan!'_

Zabuza was forced to release the prison in order to dodge the weapons. Kakashi glared at Zabuza and the pair went at it again, leaving Naruto to lean on the Jato, slightly out of breath.

Within minutes, Kakashi had Zabuza pinned to a tree and was about to deal the killing blow when a Hunter-nin showed up and took Zabuza away, the latter dead from a pair of needles to the neck.

Kakashi passed out a few seconds later, suffering from a major case of chakra exhaustion. Sasuke and Tazuna helped carry Kakashi while Sakura led the group. Naruto stayed behind a few minutes to gather up all his weapons, which were thankfully attached to ninja wire.

Sealing away the weapons, he replaced the scroll in his bandolier and waved at a figure that was shrouded by the shadows in a nearby tree. "Tell Zabuza-sensei I'm sorry, yeah?"

The figure giggled before disappearing. Naruto chuckled himself before running to catch up with the group.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**The Uchiha Insanity**

Naruto was currently sleeping, his back against the wall in Kakashi's room with his coat draped over him, his katana propped up with his arms wrapped loosely around it. Sasuke was nearby, glaring at the blonde and contemplating whether to get rid of his only threat at the moment, while he was unguarded. Sakura was downstairs helping Tsunami prepare dinner while Tazuna was watching TV.

"**Kit…"**

Naruto twitched in his sleep.

"**Kitttt…"**

Naruto snarled in his sleep, but continued to dream.

"**KIT!"**

Naruto shot up; his sword unsheathed and aimed at… nothing? _'What the hell?' _Sasuke was watching him with wide eyes, and that was when Kakashi woke up.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Kakashi asked.

"I thought I heard…" Naruto mumbled under his breath. "It's nothing, sensei," he said louder.

Kakashi nodded from his spot on the futon before he groaned. "Ugh… get Sakura. I need to tell you guys something."

Sasuke nodded and disappeared from the room, while Naruto sat down beside Kakashi. "So, sensei, how is Sasuke's training going?"

At Kakashi's surprised expression, Naruto couldn't stop the smirk that emerged on his face.

"What, you think I didn't know you were training him in private? That's just shameful…"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Kakashi questioned, his eye narrowing.

Naruto shrugged in response, "He's being trained by the revered Sharingan no Kakashi, while his teammates have to find their own training. Sakura is too busy fawning over the precious Uchiha to train, and you do nothing to try and get her to become an actual Kunoichi. I personally don't need much help training, but a little guidance would be nice considering I am weak in the Taijutsu and Genjutsu areas. You go on about teamwork and yet you train the 'last' Uchiha privately and he still seems to have no sense of teamwork. You could say I have a slight problem with it, yeah."

Kakashi sighed, but mentally he at conflict with himself. _'I have a duty to Obito to train the last Uchiha, and the council wants me to as well, hell they even made it a mission. But Naruto is right, sensei would never take one of us aside to train personally and leave the others to fend for themselves. Gah, what do I do!?'_

Sasuke and Sakura walked in a few moments later. Both stared at Kakashi expectantly, while he seemed to mull his thoughts over.

"I think Zabuza is still alive."

**(Meanwhile)**

"ACHOO!"

Zabuza wiped his nose and growled with a lecherous grin, "Must be some really hot babes out there thinking of me."

**(Anywho)**

Sakura was about ready to pass out, but miraculously didn't scream. Sasuke was wide-eyed and Naruto… seemed to be forcing himself not to laugh. Kakashi turned his gaze to the Jinchurikee and frowned.

"What's so funny, Naruto?"

Naruto snorted once before he got control of himself, "Of course Zabuza is still alive. A Hunter would have taken off his head like I did with the Demon Brothers, then dispose of the body."

Kakashi almost seemed to be pouting. Way to ruin a dramatic moment. Sasuke glared at Naruto before walking out, Sakura following close behind him.

Naruto's smile contorted into a visage of pain as he fell to the ground with a heavy 'thump'.

"Shit…"

"What's the matter, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, true concern filling his voice.

"Sensei, I need you to" Naruto started to yelp in pain before he bit his own hand. A few seconds later, he continued, "There is a seal… on the back of my neck… break it. Adding chakra to your finger and smudging it should work."

Kakashi nodded and moved, although agonizingly slow as it was. He got close enough to the blonde, and gasped when he saw the seal. _'How the hell did he get Sensei's gravity seal?!'_

"Now, Kakashi!"

Kakashi nodded once and rubbed the seal, adding chakra to his hands and watched as part of it faded. Naruto groaned in relief as he stopped biting his hand. The wound healed almost instantly, to the surprise of Kakashi.

"Naruto, why did you have a gravity seal?" inquired the silver haired jounin.

Naruto laughed, "How do you think I was faster than you the day of the bell test?"

Kakashi's visible eye widened in surprise, before he chuckled. Naruto twitched in pain again before he slumped back. Kakashi fell back onto the futon.

Naruto sighed, "Seems like I can't use that again… Damn."

Kakashi looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"I can't reactivate the seal for a few years at least now. I use the seal differently than how it was supposed to be used. I add gravity in one large lot, which practically kills my muscles. Then the Kyuubi's regenerative factor kicks in and my muscles, bones and what not are healed with enough strength to withstand the new pressure. Kenji-tou-san warned me about doing it that way, since my muscles can only get so strong without my physical ageing, and it seems I have reached my limit."

"I see…" Kakashi mumbled. It wasn't long after that he noticed Naruto fall asleep, every now and then twitching in what he guessed was pain.

* * *

Kakashi lead his students out into a clearing, where he continued on to explain the art of tree walking. Naruto grinned at Kakashi, who merely sighed.

"So, Naruto, what are you going to do instead?"

Naruto shrugged, "I'm still gonna do the tree walking… but I'm gonna add something else to it as well."

The blonde reached into his ninja pouch, he was now back in his standard ninja attire, and pulled out two kunai. Placing them in his open palms, he started to spin them as he walked up the tree.

Sasuke growled at the blonde before running at the tree, only making it up five steps before it started to break. He flipped backwards off the tree after marking it with the kunai Kakashi gave him.

"This isn't so hard!" Sakura exclaimed from her place on one of the upper braches. Kakashi smiled politely while Naruto grinned at the girl. Sure, she was an unnaturally loud banshee, but she had her moments as well. Sasuke glared evilly at her before turning his glare on Naruto.

"You're right, Sakura-san… but you have smaller reserves than Sasuke or I, so it is naturally easier for you."

Kakashi almost face planted, _'Way to put a damper on her accomplishment, Naruto.'_

Sakura started screaming at him, and almost immediately reverted back to her fan girl ways. Naruto slapped his forehead, but dropped his kunai in the process. Swearing, he threw out his hand, and caught the weapon with naught but his pinkie, using chakra to make it stick.

"Naruto, I'm sure you have other training to do…" Kakashi started, hoping to get him away from Sakura for the time being.

Seeing Kakashi's pointed look, Naruto shrugged and flipped down onto the ground. "Yeah, but I might not be back until tomorrow. The training I'm gonna do will probably drain me to the bone."

Kakashi nodded and shrugged, "Be careful."

The genin laughed but nodded all the same. Apparently his little talk had gotten through the silver haired Cyclops' skull. Making his way through the clearing, he unsealed his kodachi and made them whistle with the wind.

* * *

"Haku-chan!"

Haku looked up from the herbs she was gathering to see her favourite blonde. "Naruto-kun!" she exclaimed, getting up to hug him.

Naruto chuckled and hugged the older girl back. It had been almost two years since he had last seen her.

**(Flashback)**

Ten year old Naruto groaned as he rolled over onto his back. The shark-tooth grin that was before him made him groan even louder. This man was a god forsaken slave driver.

"Zabuza-sensei, just… a few more minutes… my arms are dead…" he got out between pants.

Zabuza's grin got even wider as he bent down and picked up the boy by his collar. "Nope! We still have four more kata's to go through before dinner! And then we still need to work on you manipulating chakra through your sword!"

Naruto sighed, "How come you are teaching me and not Kenji-tou-san?"

"Because," Zabuza started with a smirk, "He's too soft to push you through the trials of learning true kenjutsu! I on the other hand, am a master and don't give a snot if you get hurt!"

"Zabuza-sama, leave Naruto-kun alone!"

Zabuza sighed and dropped Naruto before turning to the twelve year old girl behind him, "Haku-chan, you're ruining my 'Mister Bad Ass' persona!"

Haku just sighed at her father figure's attitude and walked over to Naruto. She handed him a bottle of water and a cream to rub on his muscles, "Haruhi-senpai helped make it. She really is a great healer."

Naruto grinned and nodded, "Thanks, Haku-chan! Tell Kaa-chan I said thank you!"

The girl nodded and turned to head back to the house, not before glaring at Zabuza. The swordsman grinned at her, and waited until she got back to the house before turning an evil eye to Naruto. Said blonde gulped, _'Aw hell!'_

**(End Flashback)**

"So, how long is Zabuza-sensei gonna be out of it?" Naruto asked, leaning back against a tree. Haku looked over to the blonde and sighed.

"Even with my herbs, a week. If he didn't rip out the Senbon so harshly, I could have cut it down to four days."

Naruto snorted. That sounded like Zabuza alright. He pushed off against the tree and glanced at Haku. "How come you guys are still taking odd jobs?"

Haku shrugged, "Zabuza-sama wanted to keep moving after Kenji-sama's house. We ended up here in Wave."

"Hmm," Naruto grinned. "Wanna know something cool? My clan founded Wave."

Haku giggled and cocked her head to the side. "Is that right? Where's your proof?"

Naruto suddenly frowned, a growl forming in his throat. "Gato's 'mansion' is my clan's estate here in Wave. I checked it out with my clones when we first got here."

Haku's eyes narrowed slightly. She really hated that tiny little prick. Her reflexes kicked in as Naruto threw her a scroll, which was marked _'Namikaze.'_

"Check it out."

Haku unravelled the scroll carefully and started reading.

_Namikaze Clan_

_The Namikaze clan were originally a group of assassins that hailed from different parts of the nations, including the deserts of Wind Country, the mountains of Lightning, the plains of Grass Country and many more. The group came together and formed a settlement on a remote island, and named it Nami no Kuni, after their newly formed clan name, Namikaze._

_Eventually, the clan heard about the newly formed Konoha and sent a majority of their clan to join the village, leaving Nami to its new settlers. Soon enough, the Namikaze clan was quite well established in Konoha, even though it was a rather small clan compared to the others._

_The Namikaze name was feared by the villages outside Konoha, and revered and respected by the Konoha Shinobi Corp for their skill. As time went on, the Assassination Style of the Namikaze clan lost favour, the Shinobi and Kunoichi preferring the more modern and updated Taijutsu styles. Ninjutsu was a more popular way of eliminating targets rather than a kunai to the jugular or temple._

_In the early reign of the Sandaime Hokage, a joint force from Iwa and Kumo was sent to destroy the Namikaze clan, because of their mass kill count during the first Great Shinobi War. They succeeded in killing off the entire clan except for one, blonde haired, blue eyed child._

Within this scroll is the ancient Assassination Style of the Namikaze. I suggest avoiding using this style unless you have high agility and dexterity.

_Namikaze Minato  
Head of the Namikaze Clan_

Haku looked back at Naruto, who was grinning at her. "You should learn the style. It suits you."

Haku was shocked. Here she was, being offered to learn an ancient Taijutsu style that was developed for the sole purpose of eliminating enemies quickly and efficiently, which hadn't been studied in several decades. "Why don't you?"

Naruto shrugged, "Because it doesn't fit to me. My speed is at your level, sure, but I don't have the accuracy you do. Besides, I prefer my swords."

Haku would have laughed if she wasn't still gaping at Naruto. He was so much like Zabuza with his love for swords. She looked back at the scroll and frowned. "Naruto-kun, don't you want to keep this?"

"Of course I do. I have a copy of the fighting style in a separate scroll… here it is." He said, throwing the new scroll to the ice-user. She threw back his clan scroll, which he placed back in his pocket. Got to love expansion seals.

Naruto pushed himself off the tree and looked seriously at Haku. "My clones just reported something you should know. Gato has two Iwa nin that he is going to use to kill you and Zabuza after you kill Tazuna. And these Iwa guys aren't hired help like you; they actually respect Gato for some reason and are going to job for free."

Haku frowned but nodded. "I will inform Zabuza-sama."

Naruto nodded and turned around, waving over his shoulder. "Ja ne, Haku-chan. Keep No-brows out of trouble."

* * *

For the next week, Kakashi trained Sasuke in the art of tree-walking while Sakura repeated the exercise over and over again, in order to increase her natural reserves. Naruto would create Kage Bunshin's to guard the bridge and sometimes help out, while the real Naruto would go and train with Haku.

Finally, it was the day of the attack. Zabuza, Haku and Naruto had it all set up. The two missing nin would fight Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura while Naruto hung behind for a while before joining the battle. He would then knock out Sakura and Sasuke, while Zabuza stopped fighting with Kakashi. Then Naruto, Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku could all take on the Iwa nin.

That was the plan.

It didn't go so well.

* * *

Naruto swore under his breath as he dashed through the forest to the bridge. Those two damn Samurai wannabe's had taken Tsunami hostage and Inari got in the way of him freeing her instantly. Damn brat was annoying sometimes.

He arrived on the bridge just in time to see Haku knock out Sasuke with a pair of ice needles to the back of his neck, avoiding the false-death spot. Sakura was already passed out by unknown causes, with Tazuna hiding himself and Sakura in the shadows on the edge of the bridge.

Kakashi was still fighting Zabuza when the Iwa nin's appeared.

"Well, well, well. A two fer one deal. Momichi Zabuza and Hatake Kakashi. This is gonna be fun!" the first grunted gleefully. He appeared to be 6'2" with orange hair. His upper body was bared to the world, showing bulging muscles that Naruto seriously doubted could be pierced with a kunai.

The second nodded in agreement, "Hai, hai! Imagine the bounty we are gonna get!" This one was smaller than the first, only reaching 5'9". He wore the same black pants as the first, revealing his lithe but toned chest to the world.

Zabuza and Kakashi both growled. "The Diamond Siblings."

The first laughed, "So you know of us! That makes things interesting. But… I don't feel like playing around. Feel the power of Diamonds!"

Both brothers ran through the same set of handseals and slapped their hand to the ground. Kakashi's eyes went wide while Zabuza only frowned in distaste. Haku and Naruto were watching in fascination as two large plumes of smoke appeared.

The smoke was blown away to reveal two of the most terrifying creatures Naruto had ever seen. The first was a bear, easily 12' tall on its hind legs, a giant gleaming axe in its paws. The second was a badger the size of a freaking shopping mall whose claws seemed to gleam in the light. Summons.

Within seconds, the bear had its axe trained on Kakashi, aiming to crush the Jounin in seconds while the Badger charged Zabuza. Haku and Naruto both used Zabuza's favourite curses as they raced forward to help the pair.

Before he even had a chance to reach the giant animals, the Bear turned its attention to him as it knocked Kakashi to the ground. Swearing, he watched as time seemed to slow down as the axe was swung at his head.

**"Get in here! Now!"**

**(Seal)**

Naruto was standing in a dankly lit sewer, a giant cage in front of him with a paper seal holding it together. Reaching for his sword, he scowled when he found it was missing.

**"Naruto, come here!"**

Naruto looked closer at the cage and gasped at what he saw. There was a person there, who looked to be around 16 years of age, with sharp, slanted eyes that were a piercing blue in colour. His long, red hair was tied into a small knot at the back of his head which then falls to his waist. His fringe consisted of several long bangs which covered most his forehead, a thick strand in the middle fell to his nose, two long bands framing his face and a few stray strands that fell over his eyes. His thin, red eyebrows and high cheekbones gave him an almost regal look, and the soft smile on his face made him seem like a normal teenager.

His skin was a soft, golden yellow colour, which seemed to illuminate both his hair and eyes. He wore a simple black, sleeveless training gi, which had a crimson red trim, tied together at his waist by a crimson sash, with the ends hanging down to his knees from the knot. A pair of black, loose pants was hiding his legs, and his feet were in a pair of simple black ninja sandals.

On his right bicep was the crimson seal, which tied him to Naruto. Around it were four tail looking markings, they made their way up his bicep, making them look like flames. On his wrists where simple black bands that had three red triangles which were connected, pointing to his fingers.

"Whaa?" was Naruto's intelligent reply.

"**Damn it Ningen, we don't have time for this!"**

"Who are you?"

"**Father fucking Christmas! Who do you think it is dumbass!? Seal, Cage, Chakra, Mindscape. Any clues yet?"**

"K-Kyuubi!"

"**Well congratulations! Now listen and listen good. You are about to be killed out there. If your head gets severed, I am royally screwed as well as you, and I don't wanna die yet. So here is what you're gonna do. Sign this!"**

A large, red scroll came flying through the bars at Naruto, who caught it on pure instinct. "The hell is this?"

"**A summoning contract with the Kitsune. I'd give you my chakra, but your muscles are already in a shithouse state. You really shouldn't have used the gravity seal like that."**

Naruto snorted. "I don't need to be told that again. But why should I sign a contract with you."

The Kyuubi growled and swiped at Naruto through the cage, his arm temporarily turning into that of a giant foxes. **"It isn't a contract with me, ningen! It's with the Kitsune! I lost my Hoshi-no-Tama when I became a Bijuu! Now sign it! The axe is getting closer!"**

Naruto's eyes widened in fear. Unravelling the scroll, he saw it was completely blank. Shrugging, he turned to the Kyuubi for instructions. The teenager sighed and explained what Naruto needed to do. Naruto nodded and bit his thumb, writing his full name down the length of the scroll. **"Fingerprints." **Naruto quickly coated each of his fingers in blood, before slamming them into the scroll. Said scroll went up in a burst of flames, and the Kyuubi sighed in… relief?

"**I didn't know if that would work, honestly… I only created that a few days ago."**

Naruto's eye twitched but before he could comment, he was being forced out of the seal. **"Remember these handseals!" **Kyuubi shouted after him, forcing the handseals into his mind.

**(Real World)**

Naruto dropped to the ground and rolled backwards as the diamond axe sailed overhead. Letting out a growl, he felt the Kyuubi's chakra begin to pool. Smirking, he flicked through the seals that had been implanted into his mind and slammed his hand down.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Haku and Zabuza turned and looked in amazement as a pillar of smoke appeared that was easily the size of the badger. As it cleared away, it revealed a nine tailed silver kitsune with golden tipped tails and ears. Said kitsune swung its head around wildly before its golden eyes fell on Naruto.

"**Well that's interesting…" **Kyuubi mumbled.

"**Kyuu-kun!" **the kitsune squealed.

Naruto's eyes went wide. This fox knew the Kyuubi? What the hell was going on? Before he could ask anything, the bear and badger started on the kitsune. The large animal growled menacingly before aiming two of its tails at the animals. From the tips fired streams of pure white fire, which consumed the two other summons and forced them back into whatever realm they came from.

The kitsune turned on the Diamond Brother's next, who were almost shitting themselves. _'It-it's the KYUUBI!' _They started to run, but the large fox caught them both under her paw, squishing them like bugs.

The fox turned back to Naruto and curled its lips, bearing gleaming white fangs at him in what he supposed was a grin. **"Kyuu-kun, I thought I'd never see you again!"**

Naruto shook his head, "I aint the Kyuubi. I'm Naruto, his host."

Sasuke, who was now wide awake, went wide eyed at that. _He's the Kyuubi! No wonder everyone at home hates him! If I kill the Kyuubi, I will be one step closer to killing _him! _The village will give me whatever I want! Hahah…hahahahaha…AHAHAH!_

The kitsune frowned, before it started to shrink. In a few seconds, the white kitsune was now roughly the size of a tiger. **"Naruto-san… how are you Kyuu-kun's host?"**

Naruto chuckled before answering, "My old man sealed the fox in me when I was a baby to save Konoha. Can I ask, who are you?"

The kitsune seemed to giggle, **"I'm Hikari, Kyuubi's mate."**

Naruto's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates while the Kyuubi chuckled in the back of his mind. A strange sensation passed over Naruto, but he put it off to summoning for the first time.

**"Naruto-san!" **"Naruto-kun!" "GAKI!" Hikari, Haku and Zabuza all screamed at him in alarmed tones. Naruto turned to see something that would be etched into his mind forever. The red, Sharingan eyes of Uchiha Sasuke, a kunai poised to stab him at any second, an insane smile adorning his face.

Before anyone had a chance to react, Sasuke lunged, sending the kunai straight through Naruto's neck and severing his spine. Naruto fell to the ground, his eyes wide in fear. The last thing Naruto heard before everything went black was his own voice, in a demonic growl.

**"GET US TO OBAA-SAMA!"**


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**Trial**** by Foxfire**

Naruto's eyes flickered open groggily only to snap shut a minute later when the bright light reached them. Grunting, he repeated the process a few times until his eyes could stay open. He could hardly remember why he was here, wherever here is, or how he got here.

Taking in his surroundings, Naruto guessed he must be in a hotel somewhere back on the way to Konoha, his surroundings were reminiscent of the few inns he had been too, and his futon was rather comfy. Pushing his way from under the covers, he stood up and realized that he had none of his gear, and was in a simple white yukata. His swords were no were to be seen, his normal clothes weren't around, and his ninja gear had disappeared as well.

"Ah, you're awake I see."

Naruto spun on the spot, his eyes growing wide when he saw the visage of a teenage, human Kyuubi once more. Everything came rushing back to him, the summons of the Diamond Brothers. The Kyuubi making him sign a contract. Summoning Hikari and fighting off the Demon Brothers. The Uchiha!

'_I should be dead!' _"What the hell is going on!? Where am I!?"

Kyuubi sighed and ran a clawed hand through his hair, his smile turning to a frown. "You may want to sit down for this one, Kit."

Naruto stood defiantly.

"Sigh… Listen, the Uchiha killed you. He cut through your neck and severed your spine. Even I have my limits when it comes to healing your body. Anyway, the only way I could think of saving you, and effectively me, was to bring you here."

"And where exactly is here?" Naruto questioned, his eyes narrowing at the Kitsune.

Kyuubi chuckled, "Here is the Kitsune Kingdom, a Summon and Kitsune Realm."

Naruto's eyes shot open. He was in a summon realm? But, how in damnation was that possible? Humans aren't allowed unless they are an honorary member of the clan.

"There is another thing…" Kyuubi started. "You see, in order to heal you, Obaa-sama kind of… had to… well, turn you into a Kitsune."

… "NANI!?"

Kyuubi held his hands up, palms out facing Naruto. "Whoa, whoa, you aren't a complete Kitsune. Maybe, 43 percent?"

"I-I'm a Hanyou!?" Naruto exclaimed, his arms swinging around wildly.

"Eh," Kyuubi shrugged, "Depends how you look at it really. If you see a Hanyou as a Half Demon, then no; However, if you look at it as Half Blood, then yeah."

Naruto shook his head. _'This can't be happening!'_ Wildly whipping around in random directions, searching for an exit, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

"Naruto… Obaa-sama wants to see you."

Naruto glared at the Kitsune, "Who exactly is _Obaa-sama?_" the sarcasm practically oozed from his tongue.

Kyuubi backhanded Naruto, scratching his cheek with his claws. "Do not _dare _disrespect The Lady! She healed your sorry ass and accepted you into this clan! She is the Mother of the Kitsune, the ten-tails."

Naruto's eyes widened once again. A freaking ten-tailed fox? Just how many tails did these things get? Kyuubi steered Naruto out of the room, his cheery attitude back in full. Naruto allowed himself to be led through the maze of hallways of the large palace. Adorning the walls were paintings of foxes, some surrounded by beautiful landscapes, others depicting gruesome battles.

They finally came to a halt in front of a pair of giant double doors, which Kyuubi slowly pushed open. Adorning each door was a fox, each with nine tails, sitting down with their tails fanned out behind them.

"Obaa-sama!"

Naruto looked from the carvings on the door to where Kyuubi was walking to. There sat a giant, golden fox with ten tails swishing about behind her. Her tails and ears were tipped with black fur, and her eyes were a ruby red. The giant fox leaned down and poked Naruto with her snout.

"Good evening, Ningen." Despite her size, her voice was soft and almost angelic, drawing Naruto in. He took half a step forward before he snapped out of it and bowed.

"Thank you for helping me, Lady-sama!"

Kyuubi almost let out a sigh of relief. The giant golden fox start to laugh, her voice losing its tranquil quality but still quite soft. "Seems you were right, Kyuubi-kun. He can resist the Kitsune Seduction skill. That is quite rare in ningen."

Kyuubi nodded, still in his human form, and smiled a bit. "Yup, only the strongest can even think about holding me in a seal."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at the redhead but said nothing. _'Big noter much?' _Mentally shrugging, he turned his gaze back to the red eyes of The Lady. Her ten tails swished behind her for a moment.

"Well… Naruto, right?" Naruto nodded. "Yes, well Naruto-san, you may be part Kitsune now, and that is allowing you to stay in our realm. But, in order to learn how to use your skills, I am afraid you will need to pass several trials."

"Trials?" surprisingly, the word came from Kyuubi's mouth.

The Lady inclined her head slightly, "Yes trials. The Kitsune Sage's refuse to believe that a Ningen, even one with our blood, should be allowed to learn our techniques. If he passes the trials, he shall train with the Royal Guard as well as the Kitsune Sages."

Kyuubi shuddered, his eyes flickering from blue to a steely grey then back again. "If it is necessary, then he shall go through the trials. But, what if he fails?"

Naruto started to growl at Kyuubi. Fail? He refused to fail. If he was to be Kitsune, he would damn well know how to control his powers. A chuckle reached his ears and Naruto tore his gaze away from Kyuubi and back to The Lady.

"He seems to be like us already, Kyuubi-kun. You insinuated he might lose, and that growl would have made most mortals shiver in fear. Just like a Kitsune, he hates to fail in a challenge."

Kyuubi nodded and glanced back to Naruto, shrugging apologetically. The great doors started to open, and Kyuubi immediately shifted into his red, nine tailed fox form. He sat beside The Lady, only a head shorter than her. His crimson fur stood out against The Lady's own golden fur, but her larger size immediately marked her as the leader.

Three nine tailed foxes burst through the doors, each a few heads smaller than the Kyuubi. The first was a cobalt blue colour, which surprised Naruto, and had black tips on his tails and ears. His underbelly was a snow white colour, with black dots flecked across it. The second was an imitation of the first, but its main coat was a dark black. The third had a silver coat, and black underbelly, but essentially looked the same as the first two.

"Lady-sama, is this the Ningen?" The blue one asked.

"Hai…" she seemed to chirp, "He is Naruto, and you will be allowed to give him three trials to deem how many tails he is worthy of."

The three nodded, and Naruto swore that they were smirking at him with sadistic glee. Subconsciously, Naruto gulped but he stood his ground when they started to stalk forwards.

"Come… Ningen."

* * *

Naruto followed the three foxes out of what he gathered was the throne room and through the winding hallways until they reached a small room. The foxes shrunk until they were about the size of a horse. They padded into the room, and Naruto followed after having his back nudged by Kyuubi, who was following behind.

The room was circular, and had all the qualities of a dungeon. Dank, granite walls and floor, no visible way out except the door and what sounded like dripping water. Floating in the air were small balls of blue light.

Kyuubi saw Naruto's eyes watching the dancing balls and explained, "Kitsune-bi, Foxfire."

The sages slowly paced around the room before they sat, each on one corner of a faint triangle that was marked onto the ground. Their tails swayed behind them in an almost hypnotic motion, and add that to the dancing flames in the air, Naruto was almost in a trance.

"Ningen, stand in the centre."

The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. In his current state, Naruto had barely any control over his motor functions, and his legs moved forward of their own accord. Once he was in position, the baubles of foxfire seemed to glow even brighter, and the tails of the Sages started flaying around wildly.

"Let the trials begin!"

* * *

Naruto whipped his head from side to side, taking in his eerie scenery before him. It was dank, and the structure was made of rock and earth. In the distance he was positive he could hear water running rather violently. He noticed he was wearing something akin to what Kyuubi had been wearing. A simple, sleeveless grey gi and baggy grey pants tied with a red sash and black boots.

Looking around carefully, he noticed there was only one way out of the chamber he was currently in, and beside that exit was a… messenger bag? Taking a few steps forward, he leant down to grab the bag only to have the stones he was standing on fall out from under him.

Reflexes kicking in, Naruto threw his body forward, and as he hit the rock tiles that were still in place, curled himself into a roll. Twisting from his spot, he saw the bag starting to slip from its place and towards the new crevice. Lunging forward, Naruto wrapped his fingers around the strap before pulling it back and catching it with his other hand.

"_**Ningen!" **_a voice echoed, _**"Your task is simple, find your way out of these ruins. If you manage to do so, you will continue on to the second and final trial. Oh, and you don't have access to your chakra. Bye, bye now!"**_

Naruto let out a string of curses that would have made a sailor blush. Sighing, he flipped open the messenger bag. Inside were a set of six kunai, three flares, a flask of water, a lantern with a floating blue bauble of foxfire and a palm-sized hessian draw-string bag. Taking out the lantern, he set it on the ground beside him before taking out the hessian pouch.

Pulling the drawstring loose, Naruto upturned it and caught a piece of paper and what seemed to be a sphere. Flipping the ball over in his hand, he noticed it was made of what seemed to be opal. Shrugging, he took the note and brought it into the light provided by the lantern.

_Naruto-_

_I managed to slip this in without the Sages noticing. The pendant will help in your task, but you need to remember you are Kitsune now._

_- K._

Naruto held the ball in the foxfire induced light for a second before shrugging and slipping it around his neck. As he put away the pouch and note, he failed to notice the ball glow for the briefest moment before it went back to normal. Standing up, he had to hunch his shoulders because the passageway was so small. Holding out the lantern in front of him, Naruto started his trek into the depths of the ruins.

**(Elemental Nations: Tazuna's Place)**

Sasuke was cowering in a corner, his arms up trying to shield his face from the onslaught of punches that the _demon of the mist _was currently delivering. Sakura was trying to scream at him to stop, but Haku had disabled his voice box with a needle, and even if she hadn't, the sheer amount of Killer Intent would have stopped the girl doing anything.

Kakashi laid a hand on Zabuza's shoulder, causing the mist nuke-nin to turn and glare at Kakashi, however, the amount of KI leaking from the man told Zabuza to step aside. As he did, his eyes went wide as Kakashi pulled out a kunai and held it at Sasuke's throat.

"You know what the penalty is for killing fellow leaf-nin is?" Kakashi whispered, the tone of his voice icy cold. "Death."

Sasuke started to shake.

"However," Sasuke stopped shaking immediately and started to smirk, "You aren't deserving of death." Zabuza and Haku glared at the copy-nin. "No, your fate is going to be much more painful."

Zabuza's smirk returned full force as he drove his fist into Sasuke's stomach. Bile and blood forced its way up Sasuke's throat and out his mouth. Kakashi raised his hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan while Haku stepped forward, senbon at the ready.

"You know, Uchiha-teme," Haku began, "As a medic and hunter-nin, I have explicit knowledge of the workings of a human body." She rammed a senbon into a spot on the back of Sasuke's neck. "I just made sure you can't pass out. Now, let's see what happens when I do _this!_" She jabbed another needle into a point between Sasuke's shoulder and neck, and slowly twisted the weapon as she dug in further.

The screams that echoed throughout the forest that night would be remembered for many years to come.

**(Kitsune Ruins: Naruto)**

Naruto leaped casually across the small ravine that separated two granite platforms and landed gracefully on all fours. Rolling his neck, he grunted in satisfaction as a loud 'pop' echoed through the ruins. Standing up again, Naruto started to walk forwards with his glowing lantern held out in front of him.

As he rounded a corner, a low rumble sounded behind him, and he turned just in time to see a very thick, very heavy boulder block his way back. "Well fan-fucking-tastic."

Swinging back around, he took a step forward, only to jump back a millisecond later as a shining blade shot up from where his foot had been. Leaning down, he noticed that the stone had a slightly red tinge to it. Looking further ahead, he tried to spot the tiles that were safe, but his kitsune-bi lantern's light didn't reach that far.

Letting out a growl, he threw the lantern forward, and watched in horror as kunai, senbon, katana, boulders, a few logs, naginta and all other manner of killer instruments destroyed it. "For the love of Inari!"

The ball around his neck glowed for a moment, which Naruto once again missed due to his fear of ending up like his lantern. A second later, the sphere stopped glowing and Naruto could see perfectly in the darkness of the passageway. He narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion, but quickly dismissed it. Didn't need to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Taking a tentative step forward, he shifted his body as a katana shot up. Said movement triggered another trap, several arrows and kunai shot from the wall on either side of him. Launching himself into the air, he spun horizontally as the weapons passed around him. Landing with unnatural grace, he started to question himself. _'When the hell did I learn to do that?'_

He didn't have time to contemplate as several small boulders started to drop down on him, along with naginta swinging out from the sides of the walls. He rolled out of the way of the falling death balls and under the swinging spears. He stood up to be on the receiving end of another barrage of kunai and arrows.

Crouching his legs, he launched himself at the wall and swung his feet at it. The moment he made contact, he vaulted off it and flipped around the weapons. He landed on the other side of the corridor, covered in minor cuts. His ears picked up on the sound of something spinning, and he leapt out of the way of a spinning saw blade that shot out of the wall.

Letting out a breath, he shifted his body weight down and forward into a roll as a wall of katana jutted from the ground and ceiling. Slapping his hands onto the ground during the roll, he vaulted further down the hall. Just as he was about to land, a sword snapped out of the wall on either side of him. Twisting his head and back down, he slipped under the swords.

'_Gonna do the limbo rock, all around the limbo clock!'_ Naruto mentally chuckled.

The traps seemed to stop for the minute, but Naruto was tensed, ready to move at any second. He took a slow step forward, then another, and another. Nothing. He started to walk forward casually, and nothing seemed to be coming. His ears and nose twitched, and Naruto launched himself forward into a back flip not a moment too soon. As Naruto reached the peak of his flip, which was two seconds after his feet left the ground, a thick log came flying from behind.

Naruto landed at the end of the corridor, which had initially been sealed off on his way down. The boulder closing it shifted downwards causing Naruto to grin and walk out, only to gasp a moment later. His left eye twitched as he looked down and saw a gunmetal grey kunai lodged into the wall just beneath his manlihood. A whimper escaped his throat as he pulled the kunai from the wall.

**(Kitsune Realm: Trial Room)**

Every male in the room winced when they saw the kunai and where it was positioned. The Sages had their tales cover their privates in a protective manner while Kyuubi crossed his legs. The Lady, who had arrived shortly after Naruto was sent into the ruins, chuckled at the reactions of her kin.

"He seems to have his Kitsune senses; otherwise he would not have survived that." The first Sage intoned, one of his tails poking at the image of Naruto who was now bounding from swinging platform to swinging platform with fox like grace.

Kyuubi smiled at the sight of his ningen performing so well. _'I'm going to thank that Uchiha for trying to kill Naruto, right before I rip his fucking eyes out.'_

The doors shifted slightly, and in trotted an old, graying nine-tails who has misty white eyes. Kyuubi bowed slightly, "Konbanwa, Oracle-sama." The others in the room repeated the action, except for The Lady, who just smiled and inclined her head.

The Kitsune Oracle, similar to the Toad Sage, was a creature gifted with the art of divination and prophecy. She was old, maybe as old as The Lady, but she held enough power to last another few hundred millennia before she would be reincarnated.

Turning back to the ghostly, 3D image in the triangle of Naruto, he frowned at the next task.

**(Kitsune Ruins: Naruto)**

Naruto was leaning against a wall, his canteen in his hand, and glaring at what was ahead of him. Monkey Bars. 30 feet of granite monkey bars across a ravine. Located 50 feet above raging water with several sharp rocks, jutting out from the surface. What was worse, the damn bars were so far apart he would have to literally be a monkey in order to get across from one to the other.

'_Let's see… this is supposed to be a test to see if I am worthy of having any tails as a Kitsune. If I could turn into a kitsune like the rest of them, I could use my tails to swing across. Wait, everything so far has been on Kitsune skills in some way, shape or form. This has to be one as well.'_

Slipping his canteen back into the messenger bag, he jumped up and grabbed hold of the first bar. He really hated this no chakra thing. He started to pull himself up, his arms slightly sweating under the pressure. He hadn't done chin-ups in almost a year, so he was out of practice. A few seconds later, he managed to haul himself up onto the bar, his feet resting on either side of his hands as he crouched.

His nose twitched as he caught a whiff of the granite coming from the space between the two bars. Cocking an eyebrow, he focused on the area between him and his next crouching spot and reached out carefully. The air seemed to shimmer for a moment as Naruto pulled his hand back.

'_Genjutsu?'_

He waved his hand around in the space between the next pole and him. The air in front of him definitely shimmered, but other than that there was nothing. Growling, he reached into his bag and pulled out one of the flares. Ripping the top off, he watched as it started to burn an intense red. Waving it in front of him, he watched the air distort.

'_Kitsune Illusions are supposed to be able to completely fool all mortal senses, including sunlight, rain, even air. So… either this is a really strong Genjutsu, or my Kitsune Blood is letting me see a Kitsune Illusion.'_

His sphere glowed as Naruto reached out once more with the flare. The red light flashed blue and Naruto immediately dropped it in surprise. The Illusion slowly flickering in and out of existence until it finally disappeared, leaving a complete bridge in its wake.

"Huh… That was weird…" Naruto muttered as he stood up and started to walk the length of the bridge.

**(Kitsune Realm: Trial Room)**

The Sages' eyes narrowed as they saw the glowing sphere around Naruto's neck. _'A modified Hoshi-no-Tama that is set to reveal kitsune skills of the less talented kits… Kyuubi?'_

The third Sage rounded on Kyuubi, giving the nine-tails a death glare. Kyuubi started to whistle innocently as he shuffled his way behind The Lady.

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto was currently having the time of his life. A wide grin was plastered on his face as he came into the next room. Well, it was more like a giant city. Around the edges of the room were large steps that led to the bottom which was filled with shin-deep water. In the middle of the place was a giant statue of a Kitsune holding a glowing ball in its mouth, and each of its tails has a cauldron of blue fire sitting on the tip.

"Sugoi…"

He hurtled down the steps three at a time until he reached the water. Forgetting he couldn't use chakra, he went to stand on top of it only to have his foot fall into the depths. Cursing, his arms flailed around wildly as he attempted to regain his balance.

"_**Ningen, you are **__**near your journey's end. Your task is simple. Relight the cauldrons."**_

Naruto cocked an eyebrow in confusion, _'The Cauldrons are already alight…' _At that moment, the blue flames atop the tip of the nine tails of the statue died out, leaving the room in an eerie darkness.

"Well fuck you too ghost voice!"

He reached for the statue in the middle, glad he somehow had night vision. He looked around for something he could use as a handhold, but after several minutes found nothing. _'So I can't use flares to light the things, there is no way to get up there. Wait a minute!'_

Reaching into his messenger bag, he took out his remaining two kunai and grinned. Cocking one back, he lunged forward in an attempt to stab it into the statue. Too his surprise and chagrin, the damn kunai snapped in half.

"Ok… let's see. This is supposed to test Kitsune Skills, but so far everything has been something a normal ninja can do. The statue is probably set up so you couldn't climb it even with chakra so… I could probably use a Katon jutsu if I had my chakra…"

**(Flashback)**

The large Kitsune growled menacingly before aiming two of its tails at the animals. From the tips fired streams of pure white fire, which consumed the two other summonses and forced them back into whatever realm they came from.

**--**

Floating in the air were small balls of blue light. Kyuubi saw Naruto's eyes watching the dancing balls and explained, "Kitsune-bi, Foxfire."

**(End Flashback)**

"I need to use Kitsune-bi?" Naruto mused out loud. How in the hell was he supposed to do that? He didn't have tails. Naruto sighed and sat down on the steps nearby. He took the opal sphere from his neck and started to roll it around in his hands.

"Wasn't this thing supposed to help me?"

As if hearing Naruto, the ball glowed one more time, and this time round Naruto actually saw it. Naruto watched in fascination as a mix of blue, white, red and yellow surrounding the ball like an aura before it died back down to its clear, glass like state.

Abruptly a jet of white flames shot from Naruto's finger tips. Yelping in surprise, Naruto let the ball slip from his grasp. His eyes seemed to train on it by themselves, and his hand shot out not a second too soon as he caught it right before it hit the stone steps.

"Kitsune-bi, huh? I guess this ball really did help."

Slipping the ball back around his neck, he raised his hand and aimed his palm at the tails of the giant statue. With a grin on his face, Naruto watched as the ball glowed and 9 streams of white fire shot from his hand, each hitting the tip of one tail.

As the tails lit up, the ball in the mouth of the kitsune started to glow in a similar fashion as his smaller opal. The glow turned to a steady white colour before enrapturing the entire room. Naruto felt a tug at his tailbone, before everything disappeared in a flash of light.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: In explanation of how the Kitsune Realm and the Elemental Nations work, time runs differently. It will be explained later in this chapter. Thanks.

**The Kitsune Oracle and Training Begins**

Kyuubi looked at the kitsune in front of him. It was around the size of a large wolf, had three long tails and was standing in a position that made Kyuubi crack up. Its knees were bent in towards each other as if trying to stay standing. Anyway, it had dark orange fur, with black streaks running through it, and black tips on its ears and tails. Its underbelly was a soft shade of snow white with flecks of orange and black running through it.

"Yo… Naruto," Kyuubi chuckled.

The Sages sighed, but had to restrain from smiling. They were glad the ningen passed. Throughout the trials in the ruins which had taken two whole days for Naruto, though he didn't know that, they had come to respect him slightly. Although, he still had one test left.

The Lady sighed and chuckled at the same time before tapping the new kitsune's forehead with one of her tails. In an instant, the fox was gone and Naruto was standing there in the white yukata he was in when he first arrived.

"What the hell happened?" Naruto asked, spinning on the spot trying to look at his non-existent tails. Kyuubi started to laugh but moved forward and stopped his container.

"You passed the trials. That was your fox-form."

Naruto was stunned for a minute before the information registered. "Yata!"

The Sages came up and shifted into their human forms. The first was wearing royal blue robes and had the look of a nobleman. His long black hair was tied into a topknot and contrasted greatly with his pale skin. His eyes were an icy cold blue.

The second was wearing similar robes to the first one, but they were black in colour. This one had shorter, white hair that was tied into a tail at the top of his head. The third was wearing silver robes and his hair and skin was the exact same as the first one.

"We have one more test for you to pass before we accept you into the clan. You managed to reveal your Kitsune Powers, but now you must pass our most respected tradition."

Kyuubi's eyes went wide, "No…"

The sage continued, "You must receive a prophecy from the Oracle."

"Huh?" was Naruto's confused response.

Kyuubi growled and narrowed his eyes at the Sages. "Naruto, having a prophecy about you is the highest honour you can receive with the Kitsune. The only ones who outrank those with a prophecy are Lady-sama, Oracle-sama and Inari-sama. They are also rare… really rare. The last one was told over 9000 years ago about my becoming the new Kyuubi Bijuu, which is how I got my name. And before that, it was 10,000 years."

"The only way he will be accepted by our kind is if he has a prophecy, Kyuubi-sama," The silver robed Sage spoke. Kyuubi knew it was true.

Naruto just sighed and closed his eyes. After a few breaths, the lids covering his blue orbs snapped open, revealing the slitted eyes of a kitsune. "Then I shall pray that Inari-dono perceives me as worthy of a prophecy."

At that moment, the Oracle's eyes started to glow ruby red. _"He of the Ningen shall become kin," _everyone in the room was in shock. _"And in his wake, the hidden mortals of the waves shall rise. In his reign, his enemies shall quake in fear of the Clan, and Inari-dono himself shall bless this power. So mote it be."_

The Sages stared in shock. Kyuubi was attempting to pick his jaw up off the floor. The Lady was smiling softly, as was the Oracle. Naruto was flat on his but, leaning back on his palms.

"Huh…" was the only word that escaped his lips.

**(Tazuna's place)**

Sasuke was currently lying in a heap, twitching in pain every five seconds or so. That damn ice bitch had used every pressure point that induces pain on his body, several times, while Zabuza just beat the living shit out of him. Kakashi even helped and put Sasuke in a Genjutsu that made him think he was being burnt alive.

"This is what happens to those who abandon their teammates. You're worse than trash, Uchiha." Kakashi intoned. Fuck the god damn council and their mission.

"I didn't abandon a teammate! I killed a demon!" Sasuke spat in between twitches.

Kakashi sighed. Zabuza and Haku had left after slaughtering Gato and his army of cronies. The reason for both leaving and the slaughter: So they didn't accidently kill the Uchiha. Sakura was attempting to tend to Sasuke's wounds, but was having little luck.

The jounin sighed and summoned Pakkun, "Go to Hokage-sama. Inform him of the situation."

The dog nodded solemnly. "Hai."

**(With Naruto)**

It had been a week since Naruto received the prophecy. A week of nothing but using his **Kage Bunshin** to study the history of the Kitsune, proper etiquette and manners, studying the theory of the Kitsune's powers.

Kyuubi had convinced Naruto to change his day to day attire from what he wore while he was human. He was currently strolling through the halls of the giant castle in the same outfit he wore during his escapades through the damn ruins.

"Naruto-sama!" a voice called out from behind.

Naruto stopped and twisted his neck to look over his shoulder. Running up to him was one of Kyuubi's personal servants. Turns out not only was Kyuubi a 'prophesized' one, but also one of the few kit's that came directly from The Lady in over 10,000 years.

Naruto sighed. Kyuubi had to be the laziest person ever. They had a mental connection thanks to the seal and he sent messengers. Despite the fact that Kyuubi's Hoshi-no-Tama was restored when Naruto became part Kitsune, the seal still held some power over Kyuubi.

**(Flashback)**

Naruto was sitting in the library reading a scroll, his clones spread out elsewhere in the massive place, when Kyuubi came strolling over to Naruto.

"Hey brat, we need to talk about the seal."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"You see, when Obaa-sama added her own blood to your system and you became Kitsune, you gained a Hoshi-no-Tama of your own." Naruto nodded. He had been working on drawing it out of his hand instead of puking it out of his mouth. "Well, a single body can't hold two Hoshi-no-Tama, which would essentially be holding to souls. So, mine was separated from your body, and I became Kitsune again instead of Bijuu."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Kyuubi had explained the Bijuu earlier. Every 10,000 years a new set of Bijuu were selected to go to the Elemental nations and keep the balance. Kyuubi had been 1000 years into his reign as one before the Yondaime had sealed him. But when the Bijuu was sealed, a new Hoshi-no-Tama was established inside of Naruto for Kyuubi.

"Anyway, I'm free of the seal now. We still have a connection because a part of my conscious is still with the Bijuu chakra," at this, Kyuubi motioned to the seal tattoo on his upper arm. "So we can talk like telepaths and stuff. Oh, and in 5 years when you go back to the Elemental nations, I am coming with you!"

Naruto groaned.

**(End Flashback)**

"What is it, Rei-san?" Naruto asked, smiling at the two tails.

Rei smiled. That was another thing about this place that Naruto didn't quite understand. Almost 70 of the population were in human form a majority of the time. "Kyuubi-sama said its time for you to meet your trainers for the next 5 years."

Naruto grinned and nodded, "Thanks, Rei-san."

In order to train in his Kitsune skills, Naruto and Kyuubi made a deal with The Lady. Naruto would stay for five years and receive training from a group of kitsune that Kyuubi had trained with when he was earning his tails, and would return to the Mortal realm 6 months after his 'death' occurred.

Turning on his heel, Naruto waited until Rei disappeared around a corner until he walked over to a nearby tapestry of a nine-tailed fox howling under a full moon. Smiling, he tapped the tails in a specific order and watched as the tapestry blurred before disappearing, revealing a passageway behind it.

"Well… I hope Kyuubi and Hikari aren't at it… again." Naruto shuddered as he walked into the dark passage, his eyes shifting into their kitsune form.

Naruto passed through a tapestry that was almost exactly the same as the one he used to open the passage, except this one had a sun instead of the moon. Upon stepping into Kyuubi's private room, which was more like an apartment, he immediately hurdled over a stream of blue Kitsune-bi.

"Konnichiwa Kyuubi, Hikari."

Hikari smiled at him in a way reminiscent of Haku, "Konnichiwa, Naruto-kun."

Kyuubi grinned and dashed forward, launching himself into an aerial round house kick, which Naruto blocked with a kick of his own. Kyuubi used Naruto's leg as a spring board and back flipped away from the shinobi.

"Yo, brat," Kyuubi growled out.

Hikari sighed and turned to head into the kitchen while Naruto and Kyuubi lunged at each other. "Boys," she mumbled under her breath, shaking her head.

As Naruto and Kyuubi were sparring, they were holding a conversation. Naruto ducked a swipe that was aimed for his head and threw his leg out at Kyuubi, "So, Rei-san said I was meeting my instructors today?"

Kyuubi blocked Naruto's kick with his forearm and nodded, "Yup. Once Frey gets here, we will head over to the Royal Guard barracks, which are conveniently located in the castle."

The pair met mid-air, their shins colliding as each tried to kick the other out of the air when several knife-shaped bursts of Kitsune-bi sizzled under Naruto's nose and Kyuubi's chin.

"Yo."

They both landed and turned to look at the door, finding a vibrant orange, spiky haired teen that looked a few years older than Kyuubi. Wearing torn, faded black jeans and a black singlet, he grinned at the two. In his hand he was tossing a simple, silver throwing knife up in the air and catching it again.

Kyuubi grinned back at him, "It's been a while, Frey."

Frey lazily flicked his wrist at Kyuubi, a bolt of Kitsune-bi in lightning form launching itself from his fingertips. Kyuubi's visage flickered in and out of sight as the lightning passed him.

Frey smirked, "That's Frey-sensei, Kyuubi-gaki."

Kyuubi just chuckled, "Naruto, this here is Frey, possibly better known as Hawkeye, and the finest marksmen the Kitsune have. He is part of the Royal Guard, who protect The Lady whenever she leaves the capital, not like she needs it but eh, formality and stuff."

Frey nodded, "I was also Kyuubi's main sensei when he was a wee little two-tails. You, Naruto, will be taught by all 7 in the guard, but either myself or Hayaihi-taicho will be your main instructors."

Kyuubi cocked an eyebrow, "Hayaihi got captaincy? What happened to Galleon?"

"He lost one of his tails," Frey stated. "Lost in a duel to Hayaihi and went down to seven-tails while Taicho earned his eighth."

Kyuubi chuckled while Naruto just watched on silently. Frey grinned at Naruto, "You know, Zahaku will chew you out at wearing an outfit like Kyuubi's."

Naruto glanced down at his clothes, and then looked at Kyuubi. His clothes were almost a mirror image of what Kyuubi was wearing, except Naruto's were grey. Kyuubi chuckled, "Hey, I always wanted a mini-me."

Naruto just sighed and shook his head before turning to Frey, "Where can I get a change of clothes?"

Frey looked at him in confusion, "You mean you don't know how to use Kitsune Illusions?"

Shaking his head in the negative, Frey stared at him even more before sighing. "Alright kid, lets get moving. Kyuubi, change his clothes with one of your Illusions. Your better at them then I am."

Kyuubi shrugged and waved his hand in Naruto's direction. His clothes shimmered and changed into a pair of simple black full length pants and a black, long sleeved shirt. "When you get taught how to use illusions, you can change it to whatever you want."

Naruto nodded and followed the orange haired marksman and the red haired nine-tails. He was definitely in for an interesting few years.

**(Three Months after Naruto's Death: Mortal Realm)**

Konoha was in shambles. The Suna-Sound invasion of the Hidden Leaf had been, for the most part, a failure, except for one minor agenda. Orochimaru killed the Sandaime.

At first, the council wanted Jiraiya to become the next Hokage. That didn't work out so well. The old pervert refused to take the job, thinking he failed two Hokage's. He proposed to get Tsunade to take the job. After two weeks of searching, she flat out refused and then left town, covering her tracks so well even Jiraiya couldn't find her.

Danzo was currently sitting at a council meeting, his 'smile' slowly turning into a malicious smirk. "My fellow councilmen, neither of the Sannin are willing to take the job of leading our wondrous village. There is only one other qualified to take the position…"

This drew the council's attention. Homura and Koharu were already aware of Danzo's plan, and were going to support him. "You see, I was trained to take the position of the Hokage before the Sandaime. I am the most suitable candidate to take the role until a younger, longer lasting Hokage candidate can be found."

The room was in uproar. The only ones who were quiet were Danzo, and the two Hokage advisors. Closing his single eye, Danzo waited a second before he tapped his cane once. In an instant, every in the council room was silent, the tap from the wooden cane echoing in their heads.

"This is necessary. The laws of the Shodaime himself state that if Konoha is to go longer than two weeks without a Hokage, then the most suitable candidate is automatically elected. This was put in place for War Times. And with the Sand-Sound combination force, this is a war! As it stands, I only need two people to approve of this new seating in order for it to be effective."

The two ex-teammates of Sarutobi smiled, "Aye!" they chorused together.

Danzo smirked, "Then it is settled. My first act is to use emergency powers to overrule the council and keep my advisors. You are all dismissed. Good day."

The old war hawk and his two lap dogs left the room. The clan heads were seething. Hell, even Hiashi looked about ready to Jyuuken that guy to Iwa and back.

_(__Later that day)_

Sasuke smirked as Danzo opened the door of his cell. Three months in this hell hole and it was all worth it. Danzo smiled at him, "Sasuke-kun, your training will begin tomorrow with my most trusted members of Root."

The Uchiha got a look of insanity in his eye, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

**(Kitsune Realm: 2.5 years after Naruto arrived)**

Naruto threw his left leg up as he jumped, focusing his Kitsune-bi to his foot. Bringing his leg down in an arc he released the white flames, which formed a half-moon like shape of pure white fire. As he started his descent, he used the momentum from the heel drop to spin 360 degrees in a roundhouse kick, releasing another stream of foxfire.

Naruto landed and looked up just in time to see a wall of blue flames burst into existence, absorbing his own white flames. His ears picked up a distinct whistle in the wind behind him and he felt a soft vibration in the ground as well. That was more than enough warning for him, and Naruto quickly threw himself into a back flip from his crouching position. He smirked as he watched Zahaku with his katana pass under him.

Gathering his energy, Naruto opened his mouth and released a short burst of white fire. Zahaku spun and cut his sword at the air, releasing an arc of blue lightning which cut through the flames. Gulping, Naruto quickly raised his legs and folded his arms so his shins and forearms were covering most of his body.

The lightning hit head on, sending Naruto flying through the air and into the left wall of the dojo. Sliding down it, Naruto let out a huff, "Damn freaking crazy fox."

Zahaku grinned and raised his katana, the blade crackling every few seconds with electricity. "You know, Naruto-kun, you still need to make a weapon of your own. I'm sure Frey-sempai told you about it."

Naruto sighed and stood up, his burns from the lightning already healed. "Yeah, he told me. I still don't see why. I have three perfectly good, working swords."

Zahaku lunged at him, seemingly flying just above the ground, with his sword at the ready beside him. "Yeah but," Zahaku swung the sword and released a bolt of lightning, "Those weapons won't work with your kitsune abilities. Besides, its tradition for the Royal Guard to forge their own personal weapons, hell even Kyuubi did it."

Naruto threw himself out of the way of the oncoming lightning and shot out a wave of white fire from, "Sigh, you lot aren't gonna give up on me getting a new weapon, are you?"

Zahaku grinned as he knocked aside the white flames with his sword, "Nope."

It was at this moment that Frey came flying into the dojo, an enraged Akaghi chasing after him. Akaghi was one of the only two female members of the guard, and she was also the youngest.

"Come on Akaghi-chan! I swear I didn't do it! It was Naruto I tell ya!" Frey cried.

Akaghi growled and threw a ball of blue foxfire at the orange haired teen/kitsune. "Naruto's in here, Frey! How could it have been him!?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What did Frey-sensei do?"

Akaghi blushed, "He went through my drawers!"

"I swear to Inari it wasn't me!" Frey screamed as he dodged three creepy looking plants that were trying to eat him. Akaghi had major skills in Kitsune Illusions.

Naruto looked to the door where he saw a clone of himself, standing there with a big grin on his face, a pair of pink panties hanging of his finger. Naruto slapped his forehead but still blushed all the same.

This was the Royal Guard. When at home, one big, slightly psychotic family. When out in the field, still a slightly psychotic family. Made no difference to the guard, the battlefield could never be as bad as the Royal Guard barracks.

Naruto was surprised when he first came to the barracks. It was basically an estate inside the castle. For the past two and a half years he had been living, eating and training with the Royal Guard. Hell, the only times he left the barracks was when he and Kyuubi went sneaking around at night a few times a month.

Glancing down at his left forearm, he rubbed it where he knew his summoning tattoo was grafted. Turns out the Kitsune weren't summon creatures, but kami that lived in their own realm. Naruto flipped out when he heard that. Out of the entire Kitsune Kingdom, he could only summon the Royal Guard, the First Regiment of the Kitsune Armies of Inari, Hikari, and if the situation really called for it, The Lady or The Sages.

**(Haku and Zabuza)**

A former mist-nin, a perverted hermit, a 'traitor' and a master swordsman were all sitting at a round table.

"I fold."

Jiraiya grinned in triumph, "Hah! No one can beat the legendary Frog Sage, Jiraiya!"

Itachi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, the others in the room copying his actions. Kenji and Zabuza grabbed one of Jiraiya's arms each and dragged him back down into his chair.

"Ok, I call the Fifty-fifth session of this 'missing-nin' poker game, over!" Kenji declared, pushing the pot in Jiraiya's direction. Ever since Sasuke had been freed of his murder charges, Jiraiya and Kenji cut off their ties with Konoha.

"Alright boys, Haruhi-sempai has made food. But don't--"

Haku didn't get to finish her sentence as the four rushed into the next room.

"Run." Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair and looked up at the well lit roof of their current hiding spot, a series of well kept caverns under the Takezo Farm, the entrance hidden courtesy of Itachi's genjutsu, designed for the specific purpose of hiding for long periods of time, so it was all furnished.

'_Naruto-kun, where are you? I know you're alive… I can feel it.'_

"Haku-chan, come eat something before these four devour it all!" Haruhi's voice came from the adjoining cavern.

"Hai, Haruhi-sempai!" _'I won't stop waiting, Naruto-kun!'_


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Shock and Awe**

It has been 3 months since Danzo had taken control of Konohagakure. 3 months living under Martial Law. Three months of being allied with Sound, the very village that attempted to destroy them.

Uchiha Sasuke was currently in the now public Root facility, sparring with his training partner, Sai. The three tomoe Sharingan in his eyes started to spin wildly, as his hands danced through some handseals.

"**Katon: Karyu Endan no Jutsu!" **

A stream of white hot fire shot from Sasuke's mouth, tearing through the ink bear that was protecting the pale faced Root member. The flames hit Sai head on, only for him to turn into a puddle of ink.

"**Ninpo: Choju Giga!"**

Sasuke flipped to the side as three ink lions rushed him from behind. Flicking his hands through more seals, he smirked. **"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" **Firing off a series of fireballs, he destroyed the clones before turning back to Sai.

Sai came at Sasuke, his ninjato at the ready, and looked on indifferently as Sasuke drew his Chokuto. His Sharingan had allowed him to copy the best sword masters in Konoha, giving Sasuke a definite edge.

"Sasuke-kun, Sai, that's enough!" Danzo's voice bellowed throughout the hall, "I have a mission for you two."

Sasuke smirked while Sai just stood at attention. Danzo nodded and continued, "A small Iwa patrol has been spotted in Fire Country territory. You are to go an eliminate them. Sasuke-kun, this is a good chance to learn some more Doton techniques.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Sai said, with Sasuke muttering the same thing a moment later.

**(Great Naruto Bridge)**

It was a bright, early morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the bridge was bustling with activity, the air in the middle of the bridge was shimmering. Wait a minute, shimmering?

After a few minutes, the shimmer turned into a soft glow before disappearing, leaving two people in its wake. The first had long red hair, and a black martial arts outfit. The second had slightly spiky blonde hair and was… naked?

"Aww hell! I hate it when that happens!" The blonde one cursed.

The red head snorted, "I think it's hilarious."

The blonde glared at the red head as the air shimmered around him. A second later, he was wearing full length black pants held tight with a black belt and two loose, brown belts just below his waist with three small brown belts on his right thigh just above his knee and black combat boots. Covering his upper body was a white tee-shirt with a fur-neck black coat over it, and he was wearing black gloves that cut off at the first knuckle. Hanging around his neck was a silver chain with a fox head attached to it. Written in Kanji on the head was 'Kitsune-bi'. (Think Squall with Blonde Hair)

"I still don't see why you changed your outfit. I liked mine better," the red-head whined as they started to walk to the mainland.

"Tch, yours was and is just plain boring. If it wasn't for your high cheek bones and long hair, you'd be passed off as a dojo dropout." The blonde countered, completely ignoring the stares they got as they walked by.

The duo continued to argue as they reached the mainland. The blonde held up his hand for a minute and looked at the sign overhead. "The Great Naruto Bridge, huh? I like it. I'll go pay old man Tazuna a visit once we check in with the old man."

**(Konoha)**

Naruto waltzed through the Hokage Tower, sticking to the shadows, wanting to surprise the old man. He was 17 and a half, mentally, and his body was that of a sixteen year old. Standing at 5'8", he had grown quite a bit. Kyuubi was currently out exploring the village.

Reaching the Hokage's door, he smiled and opened it only to be met with a pair of katana at his neck courtesy of ANBU. Sitting behind the desk was not the smiling Sarutobi who he expected to see, but a scowling, one eyed, one armed man.

"Who are you, exactly?" Danzo questioned.

"Namikaze Naruto, where is Sarutobi-jiji?" Naruto answered and demanded.

Danzo chuckled, "The Sandaime was killed fighting Orochimaru during the Sound-Sand invasion three months ago. I took over as the Godaime. You were reported dead six months ago, Uzumaki."

"It's Namikaze! And I am right here, aint I!?" Naruto spat, shaking in repressed fury. Sarutobi was dead? No way. It wasn't possible.

"Indeed you are… ANBU, seize him." Naruto swore as the ANBU shackled his wrists with chakra repressing cuffs. "Orochimaru should be able to turn this Jinchuuriki into a usable weapon. Inform him at once."

A third ANBU appeared and nodded, "Hai, Hokage-sama!"

Naruto spat at Danzo. "You fucking allied with him!? You ALLIED WITH THE MAN WHO KILLED SARUTOBI!? YOU ALLIED WITH THE VILLAGE THAT TRIED TO DESTROY KONOHA!? YOU FUCKING SCUM!"

Danzo sneered, "Konoha is under martial law, enacted during war time. Orochimaru and I will bring about the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and Konoha shall be marked as the most powerful Hidden Village once more!"

Naruto started to growl, "You old fucking War monger! I bet Jiraiya has cut his ties with the village, as did Tsunade. You traded two Sannin for one! And guess what, you aint about to get a fucking Jinchuuriki as a weapon either!"

Danzo watched with wide eyes as Naruto snapped his fingers, a burst of white flames incineration the hand binders. Snapping his legs out in a splits-like manoeuvre as he jumped, he kicking both the ANBU in the chin, releasing their grip on him.

"You're about to find out why you don't fuck with a Namikaze!" Naruto growled out before disappearing in a swirl of white flames.

Danzo stood from his seat, "Find him! I want him subdued now! MOVE!"

The ANBU disappeared in a simple Shunshin, leaving Danzo seething at his loss of a potential weapon of mass destruction. Orochimaru was not going to be pleased.

**(Konoha Bathhouse)**

A swirl of white flames shut up from the water before receding, leaving Naruto standing atop the boiling hot water. Kyuubi looked at Naruto, and seeing his expression he immediately snapped to attention.

"We need to get out of here. Sarutobi-jiji is dead. Danzo is the new Hokage. They are coming after me."

Kyuubi nodded, "Where to?"

Naruto grinned, "Looks like we are going back to the farm."

A black boot collided with the ANBU's stomach, sending him hurtling into a nearby tree. A second later, another ANBU was lying beside the first one, both knocked unconscious.

"Well, that was fun," Kyuubi said, dusting the invisible dirt from his hands.

Naruto rolled his neck and popped it in several places before sighing, "Yeah I suppose. But this means we have to find Kenji-tou-san manually. He aint in the house…"

Kyuubi merely shrugged, "Are you Kitsune or aren't you?" The redhead grinned before his eyes swapped from their slitted blue to red. Naruto grinned and did the same with his own eyes, except retaining the blue color.

"Neh, didn't the old man say something about a basement or cellar or something?" Kyuubi inquired, making his way towards the house itself.

"Yeah, I think so. It was years ago so I don't really remember…" Naruto muttered as he walked around in the house. Kyuubi went off towards the bedrooms while Naruto explored the kitchen area.

After fifteen minutes of nothing, Kyuubi's voice carried from somewhere towards the back of the house, "I think I found something! There is a Genjutsu covering it!"

Naruto jogged down to where Kyuubi's voice came from, reaching a storage room. The walls were laden with barrels of rice, sake and other items that the Takezo family grew. Sure enough, there was the distinct quiver in the air around a few of the barrels that indicated an illusion, which only his eyes could see.

Naruto nodded at Kyuubi. Being only a half-Kitsune, he wasn't very good with illusions. Sure, he could make them fine, but when it came to breaking them… he stank.

The redhead lifted his hand and cocked his arm. Letting loose, he thrust his arm forward, palming the barrels which instantly dissolved into ravens before disappearing completely.

"Itachi-sempai?" Naruto mused out loud.

Kyuubi shrugged nonchantly. Naruto grinned and started to walk down the cold stone steps. The sounds of his footfalls on the steps echoed throughout the narrow hallway, giving it an eerie feel.

**(With Haku)**

The brown haired girl was currently standing at the end of the steps that lead to her make-shift family's location. She listened as the footsteps got closer and closer. Shifting her feet into the opening stance of the Namikaze taijutsu style, she prepared to take out whoever was coming down the staircase.

Finally a visage formed of shadows as the person stepped out from the stairs and into the cavern. Haku snapped forwards, her forefinger and middle finger aimed at the shadows neck. Just as her nails brushed the figures skin, its head and neck suddenly shifted back slightly, causing Haku to stumble.

An arm wrapped around her waist and she was twirled inwards toward the person. Slipping a senbon from her sleeve, she raised it to the figures throat as he, because it was definitely not a she, pulled her into his chest.

"Who are you?" Haku hissed, the senbon scratching the skin just below the man's Adam's apple.

The man chuckled before moving his head forward slightly, revealing blonde, tousled hair and shimmering cerulean eyes. On each of his cheeks were three, barely visible whisker marks. Haku almost started to cry.

"Naruto-kun…"

Naruto lifted his hand and used his finger to move the senbon away from his neck. "Konbanwa, Haku-chan…" he whispered.

Haku broke down. Dropping the needle, she threw her arms around Naruto's neck and started sobbing into his shoulder. Naruto smiled softly and snaked his arms around the girl's waist.

"I always knew you weren't dead…" Haku mumbled between sobs, "I knew it."

Naruto started rocking back and forth, attempting to calm Haku. "And I'm right here. I'm right here and I am not leaving again."

Kyuubi came up from behind the couple and smiled softly. They reminded him of himself and Hikari. Shaking his head, he disappeared in a swirl of red gas like chakra.

Reappearing on the other side of the couple, he went ahead into the next cavern where Zabuza, Jiraiya, Kenji and Itachi were all sitting, Itachi behind a pile of Ryou.

"Good evening gentlemen."

**(Later that evening)**

"So let me get this straight," Kenji started, "You were almost killed by the Uchiha, taken to the Kitsune realm to be healed, and in doing so became a Hanyou Kitsune." Naruto nodded. "And then you went through a trial to discover your powers and see how many tails you were worth, which is three. And then for the past six months, five years for you, you have been training in said Kitsune powers?"

Naruto nodded, "Sounds about right."

Zabuza leaned back and scratched at his head, "Huh… you're life is pretty fucked up…"

Haku slapped the missing-nin around the back of the head. Naruto snorted, it was good to be back after so long. Jiraiya was scratching his chin when he looked at Kyuubi.

"So, why did you attack Konoha?" he questioned.

Kyuubi shrugged, "The Uchiha, Uchiha Madara to be exact. Their Sharingan has the ability to control the nine-tailed Bijuu."

Jiraiya was almost frothing at the mouth. The fucking _Uchiha _were responsible for the death of his student.

Naruto let out a yawn and stretched, unconsciously flexing his muscles at the same time. "I'm beat. Realm jumping really takes it out of ya. Tomorrow, I am gonna head over to Wave."

Kenji raised an eyebrow, "What for?" He had gotten back the Jato from Naruto a few hours after he arrived. The family sword was sitting in his lap, the sheath still in pristine condition.

"Gomen, Tou-san, Jiraiya, Itachi-sempai, but I am going to do something that will likely lead to you hating me."

Cue anxious pause.

"I am going to war with Konoha."

**END PART 1**This was short I am aware, but this is only the 'Prologue' to the main story. An explanation of how Naruto got to become a Kitsune. Part Two won't be posted for some time as I have a bunch of assignments at school. I apologize to my readers and hope you don't lose faith in this story.

AN:


	12. Explanation Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

This is an in-between chapter thing that will explain all my OC summons for you. I apologize to people who don't like OC's but eh. My story. I will also explain Kitsune Powers and the like.

At the end, I will answer several questions that people have been asking in reviews.

**Kitsune**

**The Lady**

A ten-tailed kitsune, she is unique. There are no other kitsune with more than nine tails. She is the mother of the kitsune race, and all serve her in one manner or another. She is also a direct link between the Kitsune Kingdom and Inari.

**The Oracle – Non-summon**

An old, nine-tailed kitsune. She gives prophecies that have to do with both the Kitsune Realm and the Human World. It was her prophecy that led to the naming of the Kyuubi.

**Ouritsu ****Goei (Royal Guard)** – A group of seven tailed kitsune, with an eight tails as the captain. Charged with guarding The Lady and her kits, each of them uses a unique weapon when in human form.

**Haya****ihi – **Hayaihi is the eight tailed captain of the royal guard. Whilst in his human form, he wears blood red armour (Think Shodaime) and wields a Wakizashi, which he uses in conjunction with his Kitsune-bi. His fox form has a blood red fur coat with golden coloured tips at the end of each of his tails and ears.

**Galleon – **Galleon is the oldest of the Royal Guard, and has more battle experience than most of the guard apart from the taicho. In his human form, he wears golden plate armour and wields a large battle axe. His fox form is a faded gold, with pure white tips at the end of his tails and ears.

**Frey – **Frey, also known as Hawkeye, is a master marksman in his human form. He often uses his Kitsune-bi to enhance his attacks. His human form has short orange, spiky hair (Think Pain) and dresses in 'punk' clothing. His fox form is a vibrant orange with black tips at the end of his tails and ears.

**Agnes **– This kitsune is one of the two females who are a part of the Royal Guard. She is a master strategist and generally forms the plans for the group. Her human form is a white haired noble woman, and she carries a shikomizue in battle. Her fox form is a pure white kitsune, with light red, almost pink, tipped tails and ears. She wears a pink and white battle kimono whilst in human form.

**Zaha****ku – **A firm believer in attack first, ask questions later, he will do everything in his power to protect the royal family. In battle he uses a katana which he enhances with lightning from his Kitsune-bi. His fox form is a pitch black colour with crimson red tips on his tails and ears. His human form is generally clad in loose black pants, and a tight black singlet.

**Akaghi** – The youngest member of the Royal Guard, Akaghi is skilled in the arts of Kitsune Illusions and Possession. Her human form is that of a young girl who wears a white and red kimono. Her main weapon is a pair of daggers. Her fox form is a pale red with white tips on her tails and ears.

**Kairu – **The final member of the Ouritsu Goei, he is one of the few kitsune who keeps his tails when he transforms into a human. Swinging dual maces, he uses his tails as conductors for his Kitsune-bi and becomes a menace against enemies on the battlefield. His fox form is a black kitsune with white tipped tails and ears. His human form is a simple black kimono.

**1st Kitsune Regiment **– The 1st Regiment of the Kitsune Armies of Inari. Unlike the normal Fox summons, the Kitsune believe in having armies prepared because of attacks by both Kami and normal Summons. The first regiment has exactly 100 Kitsune, all of which have three or more tails.

**Hikari – **A nine tailed silver kitsune with golden tipped tails and ears. She is the Kyuubi's mate, and Naruto's most common summon. She is skilled in all forms of Kitsune Powers, but mostly uses Illusions. Her human form is a beautiful, golden haired goddess with perfect alabaster skin. She wears white robes that have a golden lining.

**Kitsune Sages – **Charged with the creation and upkeep of the Kitsune realms, these three Kitsune are the strongest users of Illusions and Realm Creation known to the Kitsune clan. The three, along with The Lady and Inari, created the realm known as the Kitsune Kingdom. They are also the advisors to The Lady.

**Kitsune Powers**

**Illusion **

To a kitsune, their illusions are reality. What they make, for them, and for others, is as real as anything found or crafted in nature. Anything that a kitsune builds or transforms, becomes what the kitsune desired. A kitsune of three tails or above can animals, and objects, which can't be distinguished from the real thing. A Nine-tails can even make people, although this is a lot more complicated and will often result in the loss of a tail.

The more kitsune team up to make things, the more can be made. A handful of kitsune can build a city if they desired.

**Realms **

Kitsune, as spirits, have abilities that are hard to explain. One is the kitsune's domain. Kitsune are able to make small pockets in reality, folding space and time to suit their needs. They can turn a hole under a floorboard into a small estate, and turn a small field into a kingdom, complete with people, animals, and weather. Time seems to flow faster inside these realms. For every day in the real world, up to seven years can pass in the realm, for those who are in it.

**Kitsune Seduction **

A form of mind control, the kitsune ability of 'seduction' is one of the most commonly-mentioned skills in legends. By using their tail or tails in a swaying manner, or by meeting the gaze of a target, the kitsune is capable of taking over their mind. While under the control of the kitsune, the victim sees, thinks, and lives in a world designed by the kitsune, all inside the target's mind. The target is controlled until someone breaks the magic the kitsune's using. This mind control is can be broken by someone or something breaking contact with the Kitsune, or if the one under control has enough mental power.

**Foxfire (Kitsune-bi) **

By rubbing their tails together, a kitsune can make lightning or fire. The kitsune can also, to a small range, breathe out fire. Kitsune can also make small 'fox lanterns', by producing small balls of fire to float around them, and guide their way. This fire can be used as a weapon, or as a toy.

**Shapeshifting **

A kitsune can transform into anything found in nature. This means they can turn into trees, forests, rocks, water, or other people. The limits are that the transformation does not give them the innate abilities of the form they have taken, and they are vulnerable to what can harm that form.

**Questions**

**Q.** Naruto Hanyou – Half-blood or Half-demon?

**A.** Naruto is a Half-blooded Kitsune. Kitsune are, essentially, kami that can manifest in physical form, so either way he wouldn't be a demon.

**Q. **Will Naruto have two forms?

**A. **Yes, but they are human and kitsune. He can modify certain aspects of his human body, his eyes for example, to take on kitsune like appearance, which makes it easier to use his senses. As a human, he will simply have slightly longer canines and nails. His fox form was explained earlier.

**Q.** Pairing?

**A. **Yes, it is still Naruto/Haku. In earlier chapters when he was flirting with Tenten, that's all it was, flirting.

**Q. **Godlike Naruto?

**A. **Depends on viewpoint. Naruto spent 5 years training with the Kitsune in his Kitsune powers, bringing them to a point where he can easily take on a jounin and win. Naruto won't be using many traditional Ninjutsu/Genjutsu, and focussing on Kitsune abilities instead. His Taijutsu is on par with a standard Jounin, which he uses in conjunction with Kitsune-bi. He will still have his Kenjutsu skills, although they will be displayed less often than before, using Kenjutsu as his trump card.

**Q. **Gravity Seal?

**A. **Got rid of it. I was never a fan of gravity seals, but I had to have a legit excuse for Naruto being as fast as Kakashi during the exam.

**ATTENTION!**

It has also been brought to my attention that I tend to make several mistakes per chapter, so I apologize for that.


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